Her Heart
by Shuppet-Sama
Summary: Aisha is going through a hard time and her heart is slowly breaking. Will her friends help her out, or will she end up alone, like she always was? Elsword awakens new feelings? Will he help her prevent her heartberak?
1. Everyday is a Challenge with them

**Chapter 1-Everyday is a Challenge with them**

Aisha woke up to the sound of clashing swords and twittering birds, occasionally curses being heard from the backyard. She opened one eye lazily, soon to close it back from the powerful light that was making its way from outside through the crack in the curtains. Still sleepy and with no apparent reason to wake up, she pulled the covers over her head and tried to go back to sleep, though with no avail.

All of a sudden, a knock woke her from her dreamy state and a voice reached her from behind the door.

"Aisha, are you awake? Can I come in? It's already 10 a.m., why are you still in bed?" a sweet voice said and soon, a beautiful elven woman made her way towards Aisha's bed.

"Go away Rena! We just finished our job, I am under no obligation to wake up at any hour." Aisha said grumpily from under her covers.

"I know, but we can go home, now that we have finished our job." Rena answered, reminding Aisha of their location and the fact that she was, indeed, not in her bed, but in her room at a lodge they rented for a week. "Plus, if we don't have breakfast and leave now, the guys will soon destroy another house and I swear I'm not paying for any collateral damage again like last time." she added, shivering at the memory where she had to pay almost half of their last mission's reward on destructions caused by Elsword, Chung and Raven.

Aisha couldn't help but giggle at the exasperated elf, realizing that the sounds of weapons in the backyard were, in fact, the boys training again. She stood up lazily, rubbed the sleep from her eyes and yawned loudly. Rena stared at her and laughed, getting up and walking towards the door, but a girl stopped her in the process.

"The chicken eggs are inserted in the pan, the flame is set at 50 degrees Celsius and also the processed meat is ready to be added at command. The entire process will take about 22 minutes and 34 seconds. Any further requests are to be stated now." the Nasod girl said expressionless, standing firm in the doorway. "And seeing you woke up after sleeping for 10 hours, 27 minutes and 45 seconds, I wish you a good morning, Aisha!" she added.

"Morning, Eve!" Aisha said sweetly, also waving to Eve's servants, Oberon and Ophelia, standing tall beside the Queen. They motioned back towards her and left as soon as Eve made her way back to the kitchen. Left alone yet again, Aisha laughed, trying to figure out why she liked Eve that much as she did; maybe because of that poker face she always wore, Aisha could swear the Nasod girl would win a fortune at that game. Or maybe she liked her calculations, which were frighteningly exact and accurate. All in all, Eve's personality could make Aisha feel better anytime.

Half an hour later, Aisha was seated at the table, munching at the breakfast Eve made. She was not excited about having eggs and sausages at breakfast, but she did not want to upset the Queen, because last time anyone criticized Eve's cooking, she ended up sulking in the corner of the room, claiming she was useless, even compared to the 'weak and narrow-minded of humans' and upgraded herself for 34 hours stat, scaring everyone that she went offline for good. But afterwards, her food tasted ten times better, so no one regretted her radical actions.

Not long after, Rena called the boys to eat, resulting in a massive loss of peace and silence, which made the mage girl fret over. Raven came in first, shouted a quick 'Morning!' to Aisha and sat himself near Rena, anxiously awaiting his food to be placed in front of him, just like a small kid. Sometimes Raven seemed just too cute in Aisha's eyes, but he was also a fierce fighter and very protective towards many of them, especially Rena. Aisha giggled at the dirty thought, earning a weird look from Eve. He took off his white coat and placed it carefully on the chair's backrest and started eating hungrily. Chung and Elsword came in and started arguing, probably over some insignificant matter, something which was bound to be forgotten in the next five minutes or so.

"Aisha!" a voice raged through the house, making the said girl choke on her food. "You're standing on my seat!"

"I highly doubt that, El-freak." Aisha responded calmly to the boy's accusations. She was in no mood to be arguing with the red-head.

"What did you call me?!" he kept on yelling. "You wanna fight? I'm warning you, I won't go easy on you just because you're a kid!" he said with a superior tone, which made the mage snap.

"That does it!" Aisha snapped her fingers, rising herself from the table, making a small demon in the shape of a bat appear behind Elsword. The said creature bit Elsword by the hand and started sending electric shocks through his body, making him cringe in pain and fall on his knees, dropping his sword.

"Damn it!" he yelled and tried to take off the creature, only causing the demon to bite harder.

Soon, the armored boy stood up and stated himself:

"Oi, neesan, don't you think you're going a little bit too hard on him?" Chung asked.

"It's not my fault. He said we should go all-out. And this isn't even all-out for me." Aisha retorted.

"Aisha, this is more than enough!" Rena said worriedly, trying to make the void mage stop.

Aisha stared into her green eyes and checked upon her features, before snapping her fingers again, making the bat stop continuingly hurting Elsword.

"Anger, it's enough." she stated firmly, as the bat detached himself from the red-head and flew over to herself. "You can have your stupid seat back." she added and stormed out of the room and outside the front door, leaving her friends staring blankly behind her.

"Did I upset her somehow? I didn't mean to." Chung said sadly, looking at Raven, who, in exchange, stared at Elsword judgingly.

Upon feeling Raven's eyes staring at him, Elsword looked down and pouted, muttering something like 'Man, that bat is really weak' or 'That really didn't hurt at all'.

"The point is not that you're hurt right now, it is that _she_'s hurt right now and you should apologize." Raven said, sighing and getting another bite of egg and sausage.

Elsword stood up and sat at the table gaining a plate with food from Rena.

"Aisha's pulse rose considerably, and her blood pressure rose directly proportional with it, resulting in the so-called 'snapping at a person' phenomenon, common language 'getting pissed at someone' or 'getting very angry' as I prefer calling it."

"You should go and-" Chung started, but was immediately cut off by Rena. "You should just let her be. You did enough damage for now." the elf said and sat herself at the table with a bowl of salad in front of her. "She'll come back when she feels like it." she added and started nipping at her food. She knew that something was off with her friend, be it she didn't feel well or something more important was behind her weird behavior. She decided she would tell the others later.

The rest of the breakfast passed quickly and in silence, and only when they were seated in the living room with their luggage ready to go, Rena started talking with everyone.

"I think Aisha is not feeling well." she finally brought herself to say. Everyone stopped and stared at her. "I don't know why or in what way, but I started noticing the fact that she is not herself anymore. She has that pained look in her eyes sometimes that I just can't stand seeing on her little face." Rena finally let go of everything on her heart and shared with her friends.

"According to my analysis, Aisha's mental state has decreased in the past few days, from content-happy slowly degenerating to depressed-pain. I cannot find the cause, though. I shall run a diagnosis on her once we get home and have the necessary equipment to do so." Eve stated bluntly, operating on a console, which appeared in front of her. "Ophelia, I would like you to schedule a brain operation, just in case, to fix whatever error has occurred in Aisha's processor, um, I mean brain."

"I don't think_ that_ will be necessary, Eve, but thank you for your concern." Chung tried to make the Nasod change her mind, while grabbing and fighting Ophelia to stop appointing Aisha to a certain transformation into a latest Nasod creation.

"Maybe she fell in love and she is too proud to admit it and has a whole interior complex with herself whether he truly loves her or not, or maybe she is already broken hearted, or, or-" Rena tried to help herself from crying and started making suppositions on who the guy who broke her heart may be.

"I really think that's not the case here." Chung tried to calm the situation again, while Elsword choked on his drink and was ready to pass on to the other life.

"Or maybe she found another fighting style and is too ashamed of it, or too hurt to give up magic in order to attain another level of power." Raven rubbed his chin, thinking.

"Are we really being serious here?" Chung sweat-dropped and looked at Elsword, who in the meantime, calmed himself down. "What do you think?" he asked, in the middle of the loud conversations that were taking place around him. Elsword looked at him and started thinking of reasons why Aisha would act out of character, but in the end, he sighed, defeated.

"If she really has a problem, she knows that we are her friends and if she wants to tell us, she will. She can handle her own problems." Elsword got up and stated loudly, making everyone stop and look at him.

"Can you be more heartless than that?" Rena asked with teary eyes. Elsword tripped on his feet, but turned around to face her. "It's just that I don't like meddling in other people's business." he ended with a 'humph'.

Before anyone could answer, the front door opened with a shriek and Aisha came in shouting:

"Oi, the carriage is here! Oh, you were here." she said, after she saw that everyone was in the living room and not scattered all around the house.

And just like that, everyone took their backpacks and walked outside, where a large mechanical vehicle was waiting for them, ready to take them home.

**Author's Note**

**Aisha: Void Princess**

**Elsword: Lord Knight**

**Rena: Wind Sneaker**

**Raven: Blade Master**

**Eve: Code Empress**

**Chung: Deadly Chaser**


	2. Road to Sorrow

**Chapter 2-Road to Sorrow**

The wind was mildly blowing around them, but the speed of the vehicle was enough to create a chilly temperature inside the running vehicle, which held Elsword's gang at the moment. 'The Carriage', as Echo liked calling it, was in fact, a four-wheeled vehicle running on alchemy fuel, designed by Elder's alchemist herself to help the El Search Party travel faster and easier in order to save the continent. It had enough space to hold ten people inside and the driver and it was comfortable, too. Elsword stood beside Rena and stared blankly at the surrounding environment, thinking of nothing in particular, but still concern could be read all over his face. He felt that something was wrong with one of his friends and comrade and he didn't feel at ease knowing it. Maybe it was his pride as the leader of the gang to know all his teammates all right and safe. Or maybe it was this one friend in particular he was fretting over more than the others. '_No' _he told himself '_it's just me'. _He couldn't help but glance at the other side of the seat, where a certain mage girl was also lost deep in thought.

Glancing at the land spreading before her eyes, Aisha seemed to hardly hold on to her consciousness, as sleep was taking over her. She shifted a little on her seat, trying not to wake the Nasod girl asleep on her lap. She smiled as she looked at how content Eve seemed when she was asleep and started gently caressing her hair and removing some strands of hair which made their way onto the Queen's face. Knowing that soon she will be home again, Aisha couldn't help but smile, which made a certain elf glance curiously at her.

Raven seemed to notice Rena's sudden features and let himself fall on her lap, head on her thighs, making the woman blush slightly, earning some giggles from the void mage. Encouraging her with his eyes to start a conversation, Rena broke the silence.

"Why the sudden smile, Ai~sha, were you thinking about a boy just know?" Rena couldn't help herself, making the said girl snap her eyes open and blush slightly. Chung burst into laughter, as Elsword looked away, trying not to get too involved into their small girl talk. He still felt bad for what he had said earlier that day, but couldn't bring himself to apologize or even bring that subject back. He was afraid he would start another argument, in which he would end up hurting someone again.

"As if!" Aisha claimed looking out the window again, trying to avoid the nosy elf's look. "I have other business to think of, unlike yourself, who already has a boyfriend and minds into other people's personal lives as if trying to make them feel your happiness as well." she added with a smirk, looking over at Raven, who seemed to like Aisha's cheeky remark. Behind her boldness, Elsword could figure out that, in fact, Aisha was somewhat giving her feelings on a plate to everyone who was willing to look beyond the surface of her words. '_Minds into other people's business_'…could that mean she had a secret she didn't want to share with them? Weren't they her friends? Weren't they supposed to know each other's secrets and help them get over their fears and weaknesses? This is what he had learned from his big sister, Elesis, when she was still with him. '_Comrades are there for you. Your true friends will always be there to laugh and cry with you and help you get up when you fall. That's why you have to trust them, and they will trust you in return. _' Wasn't he trusting them enough to let her trust him in return?

He stared at his friends who were now trying to get Aisha to admit that she liked someone, and were bickering over each other's personal lives.

"The level of hormones in Aisha's body suggests that, indeed, the subject was not thinking in the matter of 'human reproduction' and/or any other related topics." Eve stated, eyes focused on her console, while Moby and Remy were scanning Aisha from head to toe.

"Eve, stop that!" Aisha yelled, grabbing the two drones and hugging them close, making them unable to scan her anymore.

"Of course, I understand you wouldn't like your personal information to be shared with other people, but prefer it to remain confidential. Ophelia, we will run a **full-scan** on Aisha once we get home." the Nasod Queen ordered her maid, adding a firm accent on the word 'full-scan', scaring the hell out of the girl.

"Please, stop her in the name of the El. Chung, do something!" Aisha cried, putting her last bit of faith in her blonde companion.

"Ophelia, please put the console down." Chung complied and stated sweetly for the Nasod maid to halt her activity. Ophelia looked at him, showing no emotion or no sign of wanting to stop whatsoever. He tried to grab the small unit in her hands, but was intercepted by a gloved hand placed firmly against his face. Soon, it escalated to a brawl between Chung and Eve's servants, Oberon joining a few seconds later. Curses flew all around the vehicle and Chung was pleading for someone to give him his Destroyer, or at least one of the two Silver Shooters. Aisha tried to get hold of one of his weapons from the luggage carrier behind, but was also stopped by a very amused Raven, who didn't want his fun to stop. He grabbed hold of Aisha by her bat-like ornaments on her skirt with his Nasod arm and held on, despite her pleas to help Chung save her. A while later, Chung gave up and stated towards Aisha with a desperate sigh:

"Neesan, we are outnumbered."

"By a lot." she added, also feeling the fatigue of their small fight reach her and soon she seated herself between Raven and Elsword, while Chung took her place next to Eve.

* * *

Not long after, Aisha fell asleep on Raven's arm while the rest of them were having a conversation regarding the types of their respective Protective El Shards. Rena showed her Nature Shard proudly while narrating how she got hold of it. Raven's Wind Protective Shard shone brightly in the color of the sky, while Eve and Chung's Protective Shards shone differently than other Light Shards. Chung claimed that his Shard shone light blue because of the Alchemy spells he used on it in order to make his Freiturnier stronger. Eve seemed to have obtained this blue peculiar Light Shard from her ancestors, so it was possibly that long ago, Light Shards were a different color from the ones now. Elsword proudly presented his red Fire Shard sitting on his sword's hilt. They kept on talking about different kinds of elemental affinities, but stopped when they came across the subject of Dark Shards. They were resigned in talking about those kind of shards, because of their obvious 'evilness', as Elsword claimed. Chung was already pretty weak to this element, exposing himself to too much darkness could result in his death, so he kept his distance and was obviously frightened by it.

"I really do not have a thing for darkness. I really hate it, it's evil. And darkness scares me to hell." he claimed shivering and grimacing to the thought.

"Meh, whatever dark and evil comes across me, I'll send it to oblivion." Elsword showed off, smirking proudly.

"You wouldn't last even 10 minutes alone with demons or other darkness creatures." Raven laughed at the red-head, who pouted in response.

"I'm intrigued, how does a Darkness El Shard look like? I have never seen one and my database holds only information about it, no visual proof." Eve checked her console again.

"As a matter of fact, neither have I." Chung scratched the back of his head.

"Look, you guys~" Rena hummed and straightened Aisha gently and careful not to wake her up. She held the mage's head on her rich chest and placed one finger on the purple stone hanging around Aisha's neck. "A Dark El." she whispered, while everyone stared in awe at the small, beautiful stone. It was flickering in shades of purple and fuchsia and gave off a mystical fragrance.

Everyone was staring at Aisha's Dark Shard in amazement, but no one dared move while their eyes scanned the stone thoroughly, captured by its brilliance. It's as if the Shard itself was muting them and chaining their gazes to it, not letting go. Eve was scanning the stone using Remy and collected data, which was gathered in her little console. As soon as all the data was collected, Eve's eyes opened in amazement and stated worriedly:

"I think this is more than a mere El Shard." Eve started running her fingers over her keyboards frantically. "The pulsation of the glow in the stone is equal to the beating of Aisha's heart."

"English?" Elsword asked confused.

"Wait, I'm running a complete scan, to assure myself of my statement." Eve kept on running tests.

"What statement?! What are you talking about, Eve?" Rena tried to make the Nasod girl explain the situation to them properly.

After a few more *beeps* and *clanks* coming from her console, Eve put all her electronical devices aside, pushed Oberon and Ophelia and studied the Dark El Shard closely herself.

"It's acting just like a magnetic generator, but the electric pulse differs from the Nasod technology. The calibration isn't right and the mechanical part is not mechanical at all, but magical. A 'core' should be the correct synonym for this stone." Eve analyzed.

"Eve, what in the world are you talking about?" Chung snapped. "What's that thing and what is it doing to Aisha-neesan?"

"This is what humans call 'a heart'. It is acting just like one. A heart seems to be an organ essential to human beings, just as the core is to Nasods. It is pumping blood through the living body, helping it oxygenate and running the other organs. This mauve device on Aisha's chest is pumping something into her, but my calculations stop here. I do not know any more than this." Eve stopped.

"What the hell is being sent into her?" Raven also asked angrily, clenching his fists.

"I don't know what that thing is, but I'm not letting it pump anything into Aisha anymore." Elsword got up and walked towards Aisha. "I'm not letting anyone and anything hurt her anymore."

Before he could grab the small gem and drag it away from Aisha, a small hand reached him and clenched firmly onto his arm.

"Dark energy." Aisha said plainly.

"What?" Raven questioned bewildered.

"It is pumping dark energy." Aisha repeated herself, while straightening her small body from Rena's tight embrace. "More specifically, a subclass of dark energy, _void energy_." she added, touching her Dark El, protecting it from Elsword's view, as she let go of his hand.

Aisha got up and sat herself near the window, staring outside. "I would appreciate more if you would ask before doing research on someone when they are sleeping and also-"

"Aisha, what is that thing?" Rena was the one to interrupt her. And who could blame her? They were all dying of curiosity to know what that gem was and what was its purpose.

Aisha studied her features then scanned every one of her friends, who were staring at her wordlessly. She contemplated on what should she do: she had nothing to lose here…maybe her friends..or maybe her self-confidence. Whatever the case, they knew a lot now, so she had no choice but to come clean with it. They would understand, they're her friends.

"This is a Dark El Shard." she began, as she pointed at her chest and ran her delicate fingers across the diamond-shaped, purple gem. "Well, it is a little more special since it is imbued with void, a type of darkness magic. It is beyond dark, and harder to control, but more powerful. In order to fully obtain control over it, one must fulfill certain conditions. One of them is to contract a demon." Aisha smirked while stating the last part, summoning Anger and holding him tightly in her arms. She petted him on his head, while he purred in response. "Once obtained, the Shard will constantly pulsate void energy in your body, whenever the user needs. This may change according to feelings, mental state or other factors." Everyone was still staring and couldn't move, so they remained stoned, still processing the information. Their friend was a Void Princess, that's what they knew for sure, yet they never studied what it really meant. Maybe because they knew Aisha that they didn't care about what people said about Dark Magicians or Void users being evil and mad scientists.

"And for the record, dark magic and void magic are not evil!" she raised her voice to the point where she was almost yelling. "This magic isn't evil in any way. Magic cannot be evil, it's the user who goes the wrong path. Magic is not evil, nor did it kill anyone on its own accord, it was always manipulated by someone who did not know how to use it properly! Magic isn't evil, it's the humans that are!" her voice reached the point where it was breaking and Anger got up and placed his little face on her cheek, trying to comfort her and help her calm down.

"You heard us talking." Elsword stated shocked, realizing that he once again hurt one of his best friends. "We…I.." he had so many things he wanted to say but couldn't bring himself to.

"Aisha, we are so sorry, we didn't know and you're right, we didn't even think about how you would feel. We're sorry. We are terrible friends." Rena apologized, also tears brimming in the corner of her eyes, hoping Aisha could find the power to forgive her friends, even after they hurt her and talked trash about her magic.

Looking at each and every one of them again and again, she could not bear their saddened and worried looks and her heart had no choice, but to oblige to what her soul dictated.

"Well, it's your freedom to choose what to believe anyway. I just told you how this magic works. It's not like I was angry or anything anyway." she told them, while looking away. Aisha still glanced at them from the corner of her eyes and saw the relief and happiness her words brought upon them. She could not believe that someone valued those words so much, but at the same time she worshipped them for caring so much for her. Rena jumped on her at the same time, squeezing her plentiful bust on poor Aisha, who could do nothing except hug the elf back and blush madly.

No sooner than half an hour later did they finally arrive to the Kingdom of Velder, where the driver pulled over and announced their arrival. As all of them stepped out, one thing could be read all over their faces and one thought was expressed upon their features: It's good to be home!


	3. Home Sweet Home

**Chapter 3- Home Sweet Home**

The familiar sight of Velder the Capital made the El Search Party anxious to arrive at each other's houses respectively and relax by whatever means after the quite long and exhausting mission they just completed. The driver of the car helped Raven unload all the luggage, then excused himself by stating that he will return to Elder and he will be on service once again if needed. The black-haired man nodded in response and waved at the car man as he stepped away from the machine, walking slowly on the stoned street, spreading before him. It was chilly outside, just as Grail the alchemist predicted, the weather would turn bad in the next couple of days. Luckily, they had arrived just before it got any worse. He handed over the backpacks to their respective owners, but kept Rena's, for he planned on walking her home. Upon seeing the small brawl the elf was making from Raven's actions, Aisha laughed loudly, making the woman pout at her and ask her to make the man change his mind.

"No friggin' way!" she managed to say between laughs. "Not after what you started in the car. Serves you right!"

Eve said her goodbyes and walked over the main avenue towards the center of the Capital, where she was resided. It really suited Eve to live in an apartment in the center of the Capital, in a luxurious residence. Her house was appropriate for the Queen of the Nasods, that's what everyone always thought, after seeing her residence for the first time.

Chung never wasted a second more after Eve, Raven and Rena's retreat and turned around, leaving towards the residential area of Velder, where most of the normal houses were located. Elsword was also living in those parts, so he planned on catching up with Chung, when a soft voice stopped him in his tracks.

"Umm…Elsword?" Aisha's voice was a just little louder than a whisper, but he could hear it anyhow. "Do you have some time?" she asked, looking down at his shoes, but anxiousness could be read all over her face.

Elsword didn't know what to think of this. He still did not apologize properly, but she seemed as if she did not care about that anymore. He couldn't help but study her features more and more, searching for an answer to what he wanted. She was slightly blushing and didn't avert her gaze from the ground on no account, as she remained stone in place. Her hands were falling upon her very revealing skirt, playing with her fingers nervously. Her slender legs were held and turned towards each other. The more he thought of it, the more he fell deeper into theories as to why she was asking him such thing. 'You're overreacting, dude!' he thought to himself. 'Why the hell are you making such a big deal out of it? It's not like she asked you something unreasonable. Just answer already, you idiot!' he scolded himself. But what should he answer? And it was back again to thinking about why would Aisha ask that. On impulse and brought on his wits' end by curiosity, he answered the only thing he could at that moment.

"Yea, sure." he said, praying that his voice did not sound as shaky as he thought it would, in order not to give her the wrong impression.

Her reaction surprised him to a whole new extent, as her face lit up exponentially and her head was raised from the ground, her stoned, blushing figure disappearing completely, being replaced with one hopeful, very cute mage girl, smiling brightly at him. It was his turn to blush at his friend, finding her happiness filled face very beautiful. Elsword was stunned at his own thoughts, but in the end he gave up contemplating more in this cause. Instead, he started following her, wherever she was going and bringing him along.

As they walked, the buildings were getting scarcer and scarcer until only a few remained, at the edge of Velder, where once stood proudly the defending walls of the Capital protecting the mighty Palace, in its former glory. Now, after the demons attacked, the Palace was brought into ruins, along with most of the city. Few areas remained intact, the others falling prey to the cruel demons, devouring and destroying everything in their attempt to take over the world. After Elsword and his team successfully defeated and subdued the thirsty creatures, the people of the Capital started rebuilding the city, desperately trying to return it to its prideful aspect. They were so kind as to repay the young warriors by making this city their home, receiving them as heroes and offering them homes here. They were more than happy and got along well with the rest of the citizens, mostly forgiving them for the occasional outbursts and destructions they cause when the boys are fighting and Rena gets mad at them. It was hard for them to also say goodbye to their bygone home, the great merchant city of Elder. It was especially hard for Aisha, who had finally got to be beloved by the citizens of Elder, and they opened themselves to her. Also, she was really close to the young female alchemist, Echo. She taught Aisha many things about alchemy in general, and the other way around, Aisha taught Echo countless magic tips on how to make alchemy easier. Even though Echo could not use magic at all, Aisha struggled and created spell tags with her magic imbued in them, letting the said alchemist activate them when she needed. They were not everlasting, but Aisha could come back to visit and replenish the magic, making them useful again and again.

At the outskirts of the city, only small, rural houses stood, yet making a beautiful scenery Elsword could only recall from his early childhood. It was making him nostalgic somehow, but he shrugged that feeling off, soon to realize he was quite far behind Aisha, so he picked up the pace. She stopped in front of a pretty, small house, surrounded by a short, wooden fence. The garden was tidily arranged and the flowerbeds were carefully being taken care of, it seemed. There was a pleasant scent of freshness coming from all the plants in the surrounding area, but also some pastry could be sensed by Elsword's gluttony nose. Aisha opened the small, white gate and stepped inside, glancing at Elsword, inviting him inside as well. He passed by her and looked curiously around the place, wondering what was awaiting for him, deeper into the garden. The mage girl saw his uncertainty and giggled loudly. He looked at her frustrated and asked bluntly.

"We are so far from civilization in this remote place, where I stand confused and you laugh at the oblivious me. Be honest, please: Are you going to get me inside that house and stab me to death?"

Aisha couldn't help her laughter anymore, so she burst into it, holding her stomach and bending on her knees. She soon calmed herself, wiped her tears away and stood up, walking past Elsword towards the small house.

"Aww, who spoiled my fun?" she teased, and looked away while Elsword stood in the gateway, shocked. He was reluctant about going inside with her because, as far as he was concerned, the mage girl could very well, lock him inside, kill him for fun and then use some crazy-ass magic to bring him back to life and do it all over again when she felt like. He subconsciously thought about Aisha being that strong, to have such powerful magic she could bring someone back to life, or even more than that. He always praised her in his thoughts, even though he denied it most of the times.

"Elsword!" she snapped him out of his daze. "Are you going to sit there all day?" she yelled annoyed, probably from the many times she called him before he finally came to it. Aisha placed a newly summoned Anger on the thin pillow residing on the large swing, right near the entrance to the house. It was actually pretty and Elsword thought about how relaxing it would be to sit and swing after an exhausting mission.

"Oi! Come inside!" Aisha told him and waved, then went deeper into the house, leaving the door opened behind her for Elsword. He took one last glance outside, took a deep breath and walked past the doorway. To his surprise, the inside of the house was pretty spacious and nicely decorated, with everything anyone would ever need in a house. His eyes were caught by a large bookshelf, piled with books, which he found unattractive to his tastes, not because of the appearance, but because he had no interest whatsoever in books. The living room, which he now stood inside, had two quite big couches, surrounding on three sides a tea table. On the other side of the room, just near the old bookshelf, stood an impressive armchair and a nightstand, holding a tall lamp just above it.

Elsword heard footsteps and saw a rushed Aisha coming out from what seemed to be the bathroom. She was holding a small, white box, and her armor was mostly taken off, aside from the skirt and the purple bra. He scolded himself for not taking off his shoes at the entrance. He must've seemed rude.

"Take a seat wherever you want." she said and waited for him to do so. Elsword picked the edge of one of the sofas and sat, waiting to see the reason why she brought him here. The next thing she did surprised him more than anything she ever said or did since they met. She kneeled in front of him and opened the white box. It contained medicine, bandages and other objects for medical treatment. She took out a roll of white bandage and placed it on the table, near her.

"Give me your hand." she commanded and raised her hand before her, waiting.

"What the hell? Why?" Elsword asked dumbfounded, resting his back against the couch.

"Because you are hurt." she answered to the oblivious knight, who made a confused expression accordingly.

"Huh?" he managed to say. "What are you talking about?"

Aisha sighed loudly and got herself up, leaning over him and grabbing his left arm a little bit over the wrist. He wore a tight, long-sleeved black blouse under his armor and battle suit instead of the short-sleeved because of the chilly weather outside. Upon the touch, he winced in pain and stared worryingly, first at his hand, then at the mage girl. Aisha apologized for being rough and raised his sleeve for him to see a purple bruise surrounding two small, deep holes. His eyes snapped open and withdrew his hand sharply, scaring even Aisha with his fast action. Elsword stared at the two gashes in his arm and contemplated about how they got there. Seeing his confused look, she clarified everything.

"Those are Anger's fangs." she said and waited for him to remember.

Actually, just that morning, he remembered his brawl with Aisha went too far and the said mage summoned her demon, who bit him, causing him this wound. It wasn't very painful, so that must be the reason why he completely forgot about this. He would have found it eventually while in the shower or in his pajamas, but if it wasn't for her to remind him, he would've lived with it untreated for another couple of days.

"Oh." he said looking at her. "Meh, it's nothing, I can barely feel anything if you don't touch it."

"Anger's bite lasts for 15 seconds in a row, blasting every three seconds an electric shock in the target's body, amplifying the painful feeling. In addition, his fangs eliminate a venom, which inserted in one's body, becomes poisonous and gradually takes away your energy and nullifies magical powers, leaving the victim's body numb, unable to move for a different period of time. I'm amazed that you can still feel your body." she explained to the now stunned knight, with his mouth dropped open. He processed what he just heard and tried moving some parts of his body, only to figure out that he couldn't feel his left arm and legs, just as Aisha just enunciated. The shocked look on his face turned into worry and his heart started beating abnormally fast and despair was silently taking over him. Noticing his changing features, Aisha got onto the couch and petted him on his head, whispering 'Don't worry. I'm gonna heal you.' Upon hearing her words and feeling her touch, he calmed down a bit, but worry was still plenty inside him. She placed her other hand on his chest, to feel his heartbeat, and when she decided it was time, she proceeded with the treatment. As his body was going number and weaker, he placed his head in a way he could look at her with no problem at all.

"How do I get all this armor down?" she asked, searching for a way to get him out of the heavy clothing.

"Dammit, couldn't you have asked this while I was still able to move?" he yelled, making Aisha giggle again, this time, with a pitiful smile on her pretty face.

He pointed to her in the directions, where the armor was set firmly against his clothes, indicating her what to do and where to press in order for it to come down. Aisha listened obediently, which surprised him in a pleasant way. He expected her to argue and yell at him for bossing her around. Instead, she was silent and listened carefully, complying to his every word and instruction, and she even seemed to be disappointed in herself when she didn't understand something from what he said. He was, no doubt, attracted to Aisha in every way: the carefulness she showed sometimes, the obedience she proved to be capable of, the overprotective side she applied towards some of her friends and the softness and soul she puts in some of her words when she talks to them. Adding the fun girl she was and how incredibly cute she could be, Elsword started to realize his true feelings and to finally accept the fact that he liked her. A lot. He started thinking about it when he first hurt her out of a stupid reason and the feeling of guilt did not go until he apologized to her. He didn't even apologize properly like he wanted, he just threw away a 'sorry!' and walked past her, blushing. Even so, she treated him friendly again, despite the way he acted and said. She wasn't supposed to be nice with him, she was supposed to be mad at him, to yell at him for being rude and mean. He hated her for forgiving him so easily and he, yet again, released his frustrations at her, hurting her again.

In his immobilized state, he contemplated everything he wanted to say to her and everything he did to her, which she did not deserve. He was going to apologize _now_ for _everything_ he had said ever since they met, he decided.

Aisha had removed his heavy clothing, leaving him only in his pants and his white undershirt. He blushed the entire process in which Aisha took off his armor, but he found it pleasant somehow. He wondered how she felt about it and when he looked at her, he saw she had a small blush on her pale cheeks, which made him think that she probably felt just like him. By the time she had finished undressing him, his body went numb entirely and he stood there, helpless, angry at himself for not being able to protect her if something happened. He hated the thought of having to watch his friends fight while he did nothing. He never did it and never will let himself in that kind of situation. It was the worst possible feeling for him.

Aisha grabbed his injured arm gently, took a cotton pad from the medical kit and dipped it in disinfectant. She then rubbed it against his sensitive skin, around the wound, trying as much as possible not to hurt him. She patted the area softly, blowing in order to dry the liquid and not sting Elsword's wound too much. When she finished disinfecting the openings in his skin, she got up on the couch and placed both her legs underneath herself. She stood tall and brought her hands before her, palms above the boy's wounds. All of a sudden, a silver light enveloped her fingers and glowed brightly and beautifully against his bare skin. He felt his muscles relax, without his consent, probably because Aisha's spell, casting upon him. The venom was being retrieved from his body, as he regained control over few parts of it. As Aisha was still focusing on her magic, a soft breeze caused by the spell blew around them, fluttering a few strands from her hair over her face. Feeling a bit stronger, he clenched his right fist and relaxed it, repeating this action a few times.

Aisha stopped the spell when she felt Elsword shift in his place, confirming the fact that the spell was slowly taking effect. She looked at him and smiled kindly, studying him to see that he was recovering fast.

"Can you move?" she asked a few moments later.

As an answer, he slowly raised his right arm and placed it on her cheek, making her face turn pink, then red. Her skin was softer than he had imagined and her big, mauve eyes were looking at him so kindly, he remained trapped in that moment for what seemed like an eternity. He had wanted to touch her so many times he lost count, he wanted to feel her skin against his for so long, or maybe he just wanted to see her reaction, how she would accept such a gesture coming from him. He wanted to confirm her feelings, to see if they matched his and if not, to try to change her mind. Although he had brought forth all his courage for this moment, his body was frozen in place, due to the venom still being subsided and he cursed his entire existence for losing such opportunity. Instead, he sighed deeply and took away the strands of hair resting on her beautiful face and dragged them behind her ear.

"Just a little bit. I can only feel my right arm now, but my strength is coming back." he answered her question and withdrew his hand and placed it near him on the sofa.

"Oh, t-that's good." she concluded, blushing furiously and looking towards the kitchen, turning her back at him.

After a few moments of silence, she got up and walked towards the kitchen swiftly, making almost no sound in the process. Elsword could hear some sounds coming from the room and tried figuring out what she was doing. He recognized the clattering of some plates, and some pouring water, but the rest was lost before it could reach his ears. Giving up, he tried gaining control over the rest of his body, slowly but surely the strength coming back to him. He didn't want to imagine where he would be now if she hadn't treated him, or if he didn't come with her.

Not too long after, Aisha came from the kitchen, wearing casual clothing and bringing along a tray with two cups on it and a plate filled with cookies. She wore a sleeveless, black top and a pair of baggy, checked, fuchsia pants, falling around her slender legs. She placed the tray on the table and offered Elsword one of the cups, putting it in front of him.

"Thanks" he mumbled and grabbed the cup filled with a red liquid. "It's not poisoned, too, right?" he asked laughing, looking suspiciously at the forest fruit tea she prepared.

"Who keeps spoiling my fun?" she asked using an annoyed voice, but soon changing her facial expression to remorse and sadness. Noticing her features, Elsword couldn't help but wonder what he did wrong.

"What's wrong? Did anything happen?" he dared ask, hoping that she would open herself to him and he could help her with whatever was bothering her and keeping her smile away from her face.

She stood there, with her eyes hidden behind her bangs, her knees brought up to her chin and the cup of hot chocolate firmly held in her grasp. He could swear the cup was about to break from her deadly grip.

"Oi, are you alright? Aisha..?" he started getting up, fighting the soreness of his muscles and bones, soon to be stopped by a small, soft hand on his chest, pushing him back onto his back.

"Don't move just yet. It'll prolong the effect of the venom and you'll be stuck here longer." she said, still hiding her face from his view.

He couldn't believe what he just heard. What made her think he was forced to come here? He was enjoying his stay more than he thought he would, he was just about to dig into the plate of goodies she brought. He enjoyed the time he spent with her, he wanted to know more about her, he wanted to see the rest of her house, he wanted to use the swing in the garden and smell the flowers she tended to. He was growing more and more angry with every thought about her having a bad opinion about herself.

"What the hell are you saying? Do you hear yourself? Do you think I was dragged in here and forced to stay? Do you actually believe that?! I came here because _you_ called me and I wanted to know you! You tended to my wounds, now you feed me and claim that I don't want to stay here?! Why are you talking in my stead? You have no right to say anything of what _you _think I feel!" he snapped at her, soon regretting his hasty actions. She still did not look at him, instead she stared out the window at the night sky. "You think too low of yourself. Please, stop that." he pleaded, making her turn and look back at him with astonishment in her eyes. "We are all worried about you lately. You never smile, or when you do, you immediately turn back to that painful look. Did we do something? I'm sorry about today, in the four-wheeler. We didn't mean to say all that. But I don't want to see you wearing that sad, grumpy face anymore. Why are you sad now for anyway?"

She kept averting her gaze from his eyes, trying to put her thoughts in order and searching for an answer to give him. Instead of a spoken answer, she got up and headed for the medical kit, grabbing and pulling out of it a roll of white material. She cut a large size from it and walked towards Elsword, kneeling in front of him and grasped his injured arm. Aisha then started binding the cotton bandage around his wound and until his wrist, making sure it was tightly knotted, but not enough to halt the blood flow.

"I'm sorry." it was all she whispered, head facing the floor, but still glancing over his injury.

"Huh?" Elsword asked dumbfounded yet again.

"For hurting you so badly. I'm r-really sorry. I l-lost control for a moment and this happened. I'm so s-sorry you had to be hurt just because of me." her voice was breaking and tears started flowing down her flushed cheeks. Soon, her sobs filled the room and her hands reached her face, hiding it from view. She was crying loudly and her voice was becoming hoarser and hoarser with each sob and hiccup she released. Her feelings were flowing out now in this desperate action, feelings which Elsword knew have been piling up inside her heart until now. She was crouched on the floor and released her anger by grabbing herself tightly, hold so firm he knew she was going to leave marks and bruises on herself. He wanted to stop her desperately, but the venom did not fully retreat from his body and he was still unable to move much of his body. Despite his physical condition, he struggled to reach her, to comfort her, to let her know she was not alone in this world, to tell her that she can always count on him, that the moment they met was the last one she was on her own. With such powerful feelings, he managed to break the confinements of the liquid in his body and threw himself on the floor in front of her, hands around her holding her head firmly against his chest and closing the space between them as much as possible. Her temperature was high, but only because of the powerful cry she was releasing. He caressed her back with one hand, rubbing up and down her spine, while the other one was rummaging through her hair, comforting her aching head. Aisha's heart was beating incredibly fast, which made the knight fear for her safety, but soon he realized she was beginning to calm down. She was shivering and held on to his shirt as if it was her last piece of hope in the world, so he grabbed her even tighter and held her in place for what seemed to be an eternity.

Not long after, Elsword regained his full strength and raised Aisha, placing her gently on the couch. Her eyes were red and her face was swollen, but he did not care about it at all. He still found her more beautiful than a lot of other girls out there and loved her more than anything. He reached the table, grabbed the cup of hot chocolate and handed it to her. She slowly took the mug and sipped from it, calming down completely.

"I'm sorry, too, you know." he looked at her. She finally faced him with her pained face, making the young boy resent himself for being the cause of her sorrow. "It's actually my fault that you reacted like that. I said mean things because I was an idiot and for that, I'm sorry. In my entire life, ever since I met you, I said things I didn't mean, only to prove that I was better than you because I was jealous of your power and knowledge. I hurt you so many times that I'm sure even God lost count. I know I have no right to be forgiven, but just please let me make up to you somehow." he finally said what he always wanted to say to her, never gaining enough courage to do so, though.

Elsword studied her features, hoping to see a positive reaction from her. Instead, her face remained frozen in time, contemplating what she just heard. The girl couldn't believe her ears. The most obnoxious and mean person she had ever met just apologized to her senseless. Of course, inside her she knew Elsword was a kind person deep down in his heart and he never ceased to prove it, when needed. He was just not good with words. Aisha decided on her feelings for him and looked him in the eyes, giving him the brightest smile he had ever seen.

"Mhm" she nodded in agreement and was surprised by the young man, who was hugging her again, tighter than before, laughing in relief.

"Man, you scared me for a moment there, Aisha." he laughed off and released her when he felt she was starting to choke.

"Dude, I understand you regained your full strength, but don't choke me just to prove it." she joined his teasing and they both released a series of laughter, leaving behind the feeling of sadness and sorrow.

They shrugged the awkwardness the moment just before created and talked about future plans, such as what the next mission will be. Elsword, the Lord Knight that he was, had to wait for orders from the Velder palace in order to go on another mission. Raven was in the same situation. They were both recognized as true heroes and noble warriors and were rewarded with their titles, obtaining them some high ranks in society and some benefits from it. They kept talking and as soon as the plate of homemade goodies was finished, Elsword had to leave home, for it was already dark outside. He put on his heavy armor, earning and astounded look from Aisha, who couldn't figure out how he could move the heavy pieces of metal so easily. She had such a hard time moving them one by one, almost falling off her feet from the weight and he was just swinging them over his shoulders, like they were a piece of clothing material. He laughed loudly and threw a 'Training does all the difference' at Aisha, leaving her pouted in the doorway. When at the front gate, he turned around and smiled at the beautiful mage woman standing in the threshold of the house, leaning on the margins.

"Hey, thanks for everything!" he waved and got out of the garden, carefully closing the small gate with a loud 'thud!'.

"No problem." she responded and got ready to close the door, when he said one last thing.

"I mean it! Your cooking is great!" Aisha blushed madly at his words and hid her face behind the door. "And your house is awesome, how come you never called us here?" he wondered.

"I will call you soon here for lunch, happy now?" she grinned, still hiding behind the door.

"Yea, pretty happy." he said and walked away, leaving the void magician staring at him, following his form getting further and further away until he disappeared from sight.

Aisha then closed the door, not before she took the sleeping bat-demon from the swing and bring him inside. He woke up in her arms and stared at her, before grinning devilishly, making her face flush a deep red.

"It's not what happened! You're making that up." she laughed and placed him on the couch, then jumping near him and causing him to be hurled into the air. Anger growled and flew on the other side of the table, cuddling some pillows and snoring loudly. She giggled and cleaned up the rest of the dishes, along with the ones she just brought, then gracefully headed for her bed, humming a song in the meantime. In the bedroom, the huge bed was waiting for her and she couldn't help but throw herself on the soft mattress, grabbing many of the pillows resting at the edge, near the metal headboard. That very large bed could easily host five-six people and Aisha couldn't help but wonder why had she chosen this size and not a smaller one.

"Ah, I am the princess of the void, I'm supposed to be sleeping in such bed." she laughed at herself for thinking this and turned her head towards the doorway. "Anger, come to bed!" she shouted and soon, the bat came flying in, landing forcefully on a large pillow, before falling into a deep slumber. Aisha sighed and tucked him in, covering him with a smaller blanket, before pulling a larger one over herself and went to sleep with a huge grin on her face, anxiously awaiting the next morning.


	4. Training the Mind and the Body

**Chapter 4- Training the Mind and the Body**

As he dodged Raven's blade gracefully, Elsword slid underneath him, drawing his blade as close to himself as he could, in order not to be stopped by his older friend in his attempt to get behind him and successfully land a hit. His plans were shortly cut off by a huge cannon falling from above, trying to flatten the red-head, making him one with the dust.

"What the hell's the big idea?!" Elsword yelled at his blonde friend. "Whose side are you on?!" he looked at Chung, who, in return, stared back dumbstruck.

"The point of the exercise is to strengthen our abilities while facing multiple enemies all alone, isn't it?" Chung reminded their leader. "You wanna fight multiple enemies by facing only Raven? I know he's tall, but he's not fat enough to be considered being double. Insulting him that way is simply rude, Elsword." the man in the Freiturnier chuckled.

"Why, you little…" Elsword cursed under his breath and launched himself towards his best friend, straightening the blade's tip and aiming it to Chung's chest area. He was intercepted again by the huge, white cannon, shielding its owner from the strong blow. In return, Chung was forced back on his feet and gritted his teeth to endure the pressure Elsword was exerting through his blade. Under impulse, the white guardian let go of the cannon, but still keeping it in place with his right foot, while he grabbed two smaller Silver Shooters from each side of the sturdy weapon. He then fell back and with two high jumps, Chung put some distance between him and Elsword. Loading his two weapons, he proceeded pulling the trigger multiple times in Raven and Elsword's direction, while the two swordsmen were desperately trying to shield themselves with their respective weapons. While Elsword had it going easier with his thicker blade, Raven had to use his Nasod arm too, to fend off the bullets. Pissed by the rising number of bullets he was receiving, the black-haired man started sending small fire-balls in Chung's direction, destroying some of the projectiles coming their way.

"You, in the white armor, good job!" a voice called to them.

Chung stopped his attack and looked towards the wider parts of the training field, where Camilla was teaching martial arts to the newbies. She was waving at them and gave a 'thumbs up' and a wink, as soon the three men were looking in her direction.

"Take a break, you deserve it!" she yelled and resumed training the younger people.

Raven, Elsword and Chung then walked towards the edge of Elder's woods and sat themselves at the root of a massive tree, grabbing some water and poring it in their mouths.

"Dude, what the hell, were you really trying to kill us?" Raven asked, breaking the silence.

"As if you'd die from something like that." Chung retorted, chuckling again.

"So you were trying, but you didn't manage, huh?" Elsword smirked in his friend's direction.

They started laughing and grabbed something to eat from their respective backpacks. Rena made them something consistent to eat as soon as she heard they were leaving on a training camp with Camilla for a week. It took them a lot of stamina to convince her not to make them food for the entire week, but they had luck with Aisha being there and talking her out of this. Still, the small food packs were tasty and nutritious, and exactly what they needed for the long time they would be spending training and ignoring their physical needs. The food they served at the inn where they resided for the time being was not bad, in fact, it was actually delicious, but Camilla did not let them have more than a plate of food at a meal, so the three gluttons were left starving every time. This is where Rena's food came in: they would always hide somewhere when Camilla wasn't paying attention and start nibbling something from their 'hidden stash', as they called it.

This time, it was no exception. They knew Camilla wasn't going to pay attention to them as long as she was training the new apprentices, so they quickly grabbed some extra energy. The three of them watched Camilla beat the kids to a pulp, leaving them senseless and lying on the ground, groaning in pain. If they dared curse anything around her, she would get even more violent and 'scold' them. By scolding, she meant more harsh training and if you didn't finish by the time of the next meal, you wouldn't get any food. Elsword shivered at the thought of not being able to stuff himself until he fell asleep and started thinking about what he would eat when he'd get home. All sorts of meat-based dishes came through his mind, followed by ice-cream desserts, visualizing all the flavors he ever tasted and the ones he always wanted to try. Surprisingly, his mind went to Aisha's home-made goodies, her cookies and fruit tarts leaving him drooling and smiling to himself.

Raven and Chung noticed his peculiar features and glanced over at one another, deciding it was time to wake him up from whatever he was fantasizing about.

"You have that face…" Raven said calmly.

"Huh? What face?" Elsword snapped out of his daze.

"The one you do when you're thinking of perverted stuff." Chung added to what Raven just stated, bursting into laughter and bumping fists with the Blade Master.

Elsword shot his friends a deadly glare, emanating an aura of darkness, but soon found himself unable to stay mad at them. Every time Aisha crossed his mind he would be content and calm, like she was telling him herself to be so. He would always remember that night, the one when she tended to his wound, the one night she showed him her true feelings and when he realized how fragile she was in reality, under that confident mask what true pain was resting. He was the first person she invited in her house and that made him cocky, made him feel like he was more special to her than the others. But most of all, he kept on reimagining the part where she tended to his left hand, when her warm touch made all the pain and stress go away. He pulled his sleeve up and revealed the bandage he was wearing, touching it as if trying to recreate how her gentle touch felt on him, to no avail. He sighed defeated and tried finding a way to hurt himself, so she could patch him up again.

"ELSWORD!" Chung yelled from the bottom of his lungs in the said knight's face. "Wake up!" he kept on babbling in his ears.

"What do you want?" Elsword scowled, annoyed that he was snapped out of his sweet dream.

"Where did you get that?" Raven asked, pointing to his wrapped arm and pressuring him with his gaze, knowing he would not say a word otherwise.

Elsword stood and thought about what he was supposed to say, questioning himself whether he would tell them or not. After all, what happened that night, definitely wasn't only 'friendly', he was smart enough to know that. If he was to tell them what really took place, they were going to make his entire existence a hell, plus that would reach Rena's ears and it could even get worse. If he didn't tell them, they were close enough as friends to realize the fact that he was hiding something and things could go out of control even this way. Soon, his fears came true when Chung spoke again.

"Isn't that the place where Anger bit you?" he realized.

"Oh, that's right, watch out, his fangs are poisoned! Simply bandaging the area won't do you any good. We should go see Echo and treat you while we're here." Raven stated. "Ah, man I'm sure Aisha would want to be here to see Echo." He added, leaning on his back, staring at the sky.

"Meh, I don't need to see Echo, I'm fine." Elsword said bored, trying to convince his friends he was indeed, fine. 'That nailed it, damn them! And why the hell was I the only one who didn't know about Anger's bite?' he thought bitterly.

"You always say that and you always give everyone a hard time when your situation gets worse." Chung recalled the last time Elsword said he was alright.

"Yeah, and you are honest to goodness." Elsword retorted. "I remember that time with the dark energy and your El Crystal." the knight chuckled, as Chung grimaced at the memory where he was in the greatest pain of his life. As they fought the demons taking over Hamel, Chung's El Shard constantly absorbed dark energy, unintentionally, which he is most weak to. If he comes into contact with such energy, he immediately goes weak and sick and must get away from the source of the energy as soon as possible. Trying not to seem weak to the others, he didn't tell anyone about this problem and he ended up almost dying, if it wasn't for Aisha to come to his aid. Fortunately, he was able to resist the power of darkness with the help of the mage, who kept on absorbing the dark energy within his Crystal.

"Ugh" Chung shivered as he remembered the time when his Shard was full of dark energy and what pain came along with it. He felt his head pound harder than he ever experienced, and his eyes hurt as if they were popping out of his head. His chest ached brutally and his heart beat so fast he thought it was being ripped from his chest. All he could see around him was blurry and he could faintly hear his friends calling for him behind his hoarse, pained yells. Elsword admits even now that Chung 'scared the shit out of him' that time. He really thought, by his screams, that the young guardian was going to meet his end there, under his watch. But thankfully, he was saved by Aisha's quick thinking and Rena's forest spirit, Arielinna, who soothed his aching body. "Eh, that's that." Chung said using a peppy voice, smiling idiotically. Elsword 'tch'd and laughed, making his blonde friend pout at his companions.

"Are you kidding us?!" Raven joined in, putting on an amazed expression on his face. "I am surprised you can even talk about it so lightly, I thought you were going to have nightmares your entire life, I sure had a couple of nights afterwards." Raven confessed.

All Chung could do was laugh at his friends as they both admitted they had been scared as hell that time and they had nightmares and bad omens a long time after.

The conversation headed towards different directions and they switched topics easily and fast. It seemed like spending time with his friends was the most natural thing for him to be doing at his age. Yet sometimes, this pleasant feeling was so far away, it seemed almost impossible to reach. Elsword was relieved to see that they had forgotten all about his wound and they could only relax, talking about trivial matters and planning their new way to get more food, since the lunch boxes Rena made were coming to an end. He kept on telling himself that once he got home, he would stick to Aisha to make him more goodies.

"You're making that face again." the armored boy said again, smirking even larger.

"Cut it out!" Elsword yelled, flailing around him, making Raven and Chung retreat and get away from him.

"No, seriously, what the hell are you thinking about?" the oldest of them said, piercing Elsword's defense with his yellow, defiant eyes.

"It's nothing important, really."

"We didn't ask if it was important or not." they both said in unison. "If it's got you so worked up, then it means it is something worth telling." Their beaming eyes took the best of the knight and he gave up resisting.

"Have you ever tasted Aisha's cooking?" he asked them.

"Nope." they looked at each other. "She cooks?"

"Holy Lady of El, she does. And her desserts are simply heavenly." Elsword started fantasizing again.

Chung and Raven stared at their friend, imagining how good her sweets were that they made the red knight think about them so much and the more they thought about it, the more they wanted to taste them, to see what Elsword was talking about.

"Can you ask her to make some for us, too?" Chung asked. "Neesan never said anything about cooking to us. Now I really want to try it!" he exclaimed.

"What makes you think she'll do it if _I_ ask her?! She doesn't like me!" Elsword retorted.

"Are you kidding me?!" Raven snapped, almost choking on his drink. "She's the first to obey your orders in a battle and always scolds us whenever we try to do something on our own." he explained. "And whenever we talk shit about you, she defends you."

" 'Talk shit about me?' " Elsword got annoyed and looked at poor Chung, who sweat-dropped in return.

"Raven, you loud-mouth! Goddamn you and your big mouth, I swear, you're gonna face Elsword's rage alone." Chung snapped, while getting up and moving a few meters away.

"Don't worry, I'll kill you both, you won't get away!" Elsword laughed, got up and dusted himself off. Raven stepped back, preparing himself for an imminent hit. Much to his surprise, Elsword dropped his sword and most of his armor and closed his eyes as he tightened his focus. Chung stared blankly as Raven tried figuring out what the young knight was trying so hard to do. In just a few seconds, all their questions scattered into thin air, as Elsword's eyes snapped open, his stare emotionless, pupils all-white. Seeing his friend's dumbfounded faces, the red knight slightly smirked and whispered, barely audible.

"Destruction."

As his words escaped his lips, Chung joined Raven on the battlefield, facing Elsword with utmost seriousness. Their faces expressed nothing but fierce determination as the young knight activated his most powerful ability: Way of the Sword. The ability itself was insanely strong, but just as hard to control and unhealthy for the user; at least, the destruction part of it. Not long after, the training field started crumbling under their feet, as different sized rocks and scrap started floating in the vicinity. Soon, the ground cracked and fissured dangerously near Elsword's opponents, forcing them to move on one side of the blow. Anticipating their move, he sent another earthquake before they even dodged the first attack, so he had them off-balance for a short while, enough to send some pointed rock shards at them, scratching their clothes and skin underneath. Pleased with the result and seeing Raven and Chung forced against the wall, Elsword tried calming himself down, finding it harder than anticipated. His head pounded painfully and his body started giving up to the fatigue of using this ability. Realizing this was going in the wrong direction, he contemplated on the few possibilities he had in order to regain full control of himself again: first was for Chung and Raven to knock him unconscious, but in this state he would attack them mercilessly, unable to make the difference between friendly sparring and real battle. The second option was for him to knock himself out, easing everyone's job, but he decided he would at least try to control his impulses and his ability. As so, he started focusing again and changing the nature of his ability, as well as his feelings. He knew from the training with Rena and Aisha that this ability was coming mainly from the power of feelings and strong mind state and so, it would change its features according to them. When he was angry, the Way of the Sword would make him slightly lose control, but become very powerful and the destruction power would rise considerably; this was the Spirit of Destruction. But there was another side to it: when his mind was content, when his feelings were balanced and peaceful, the ability would absorb the nature power around him and transfer it through his El Stone, thus regaining his composure, stamina and vigor: this was the Aura of Vitality.

Elsword knew that he had to think fast about things that would calm himself and give him a peaceful state of mind. What did he like? Food? Hell yea. All sorts of it, the more consistent, the better. He liked spending time with his friends, casually strolling around the Capital and laughing about all the normal things in their world. He liked battling. He liked it so much. He always did, ever since he was a child. He wanted to prove everyone that he was the strongest. He wanted to protect his home, his friends. He wanted to protect Rena, because she was kind and loving, he wanted to protect Eve because she was, well, Eve. He wanted to protect Raven so he could learn a whole lot of new things from him, such as battle tactics, new moves and combos. He also wanted Chung to be there with them, unharmed, because he was always there when needed and was a great friend and listener when someone was troubled. But what he wanted to protect badly was his newly discovered love, the girl who bore his powerful feelings, the one person he couldn't stand seeing cry, Aisha, who he swore deep inside to make happy no matter what.

With such strong determination, Elsword managed to contain the power of his ability and slowly come back to normal. With the Aura of Vitality activated, he soon recovered most of his strength, but he still felt strong fatigue in his muscles.

"Elsword!" Chung screamed, hurrying near him, along with Raven. "Are you alright? Hang in there!"

As he slowly fell on the ground, strong hands grabbed him and held his head from collapsing on the hard floor.

"Wow, that was something! You there, Lord Knight, you pass with flying colors!" Camilla yelled from the other side of the field, frantically waving and showing a beaming smile, followed by a thumbs-up.

Elsword smiled in return, but weakly, and relaxed in his friend's grasp. Not long after, they were called by Camilla to gather and line up in front of her. Straightening her back and dusting herself off, she spoke with a rough voice.

"You all did very well today. I'm impressed by some of you, but most of all you raised up to my expectations. I know it has been a hard week, but tomorrow we're heading home so I took the liberty of booking ourselves some places at the local hot spring. I hear it is the best in the Continent." she winked again. "Think of it as a reward. With this said, go pack your luggage and get ready for some relaxation, you deserve it." she concluded and waved for the formation to break, while she headed towards their inn.

Elsword and his two companions stretched themselves and started walking towards the big house, too. They were more than happy to be heading home, but most of all, a night at the hot spring seemed the best way to wash away the soreness and fatigue the last week had placed upon them. Most of all, they were happy they would soon be back home and could go on missions again, just like before, together with the girls.

* * *

The night was calm and the sky was clear, yet the weather was chilly around them. However, they did not feel the cold from inside the hot spring, but they could see people outside shivering as the wind blew lightly, making them crouch in their clothing. The winter was definitely coming towards the inner side of the continent and moving deeper within it. The moon was high up and shining brightly, painting everything around them in a silvery color, as silence took over the area. Occasionally, laughs and voices could be heard from the bars and pubs in the merchant city of Elder. It was the time when people got out and celebrated another hard day of work.

Chung stared blankly at the woods surrounding the hot springs, thinking about God-knows-what, yawning loudly every now and then. Raven and Elsword laughed at the white guardian and splashed him in the face.

"Hey, what the hell was that for?" he said annoyed.

"You were too lost in thought, we were worried about you. You could've fallen asleep and drown, you know. You should really thank us, we saved your life." Raven made fun of the poor blonde boy, who in return showed an unimpressed face.

"You're really funny tonight, old man. The hot spring really does you got. It soothes the joints pain and helps your vision get better." Chung played back.

Elsword couldn't hold himself and started laughing hysterically at his best friends' antics, as Raven took aim at Chung with his Nasod arm. The guardian desperately tried to stop the black-haired man from firing at him, by waving his hands frantically and apologizing insistently, to no avail. Raven feinted and threw himself at the boy, grabbing his head and squashing it between his hand and his abs, leaving him dizzy and breathless. He then took the poor boy's right arm and twisted it in an unnatural way, making him wince in pain.

"So you still got some strength in those rusty limbs?" Chung teased, not giving up even after facing Raven's fierce punishment.

"Eh, not ready to give up? I expected nothing less from a flaky, girly boy such as yourself." Raven retorted. He raised his victim in the air, throwing him near the edge of the hot pool they were bathing in, making sure he landed on his stomach, where it hurt more. After a short while, Chung came back to the surface, coughing water and splashing in Raven's direction. Elsword fended off his attacks and got out of their brawl's way, moving to a remote, distant corner. He was amused by their friendly fight and was impressed that they didn't stop even now, when they were supposed to relax. If they had the energy to continue, why should they stop, anyway?

He glanced up at the starry sky and marveled at the beauty of it. The stars shone brightly and the moon was looking over the entire face of the earth, as if trying to dye everything silver. Elsword's mind wandered in Velder, the Capital, where half of his team was probably resting by now, in this late hour at night. He thought of Aisha, trying to imagine what she was doing right now, what she was dreaming. Was she thinking of him? Was she anxiously awaiting his return, just as badly as he wanted to be there with her? He laughed and shrugged that feeling off, trying not to disappoint himself, knowing that she probably might not feel the same. That thought made his stomach twist and turn and gave him a peculiar feeling of pain inside him, his face also dropping its smile and started frowning. What did she do the last week? Was she going to be happy when she sees him? Will he ever get the courage to tell her how he feels? Elsword thought seriously about that. His saddened face turned to seriousness, deciding his course of action and how to state his feelings to her in the most suitable way, trying to find a way to make sure she will accept him in return.

All of a sudden, his train of thoughts was interrupted as a naked Chung flew into his face, forcing him underwater, making him choke from the shock of the impact. He was brought back to the surface quickly by a metallic arm, grabbing his arm tightly. Breathing again, Elsword glared at his friends, sending chills down their spines. They were going to get it!

"What the fuck is wrong with you?!" he yelled. "Can't you keep quiet even here?! And you tell _me_ I'm short-tempered and reckless! Dammit!" the red knight got up and headed for the exit, where their towels rested.

"Hey, we're sorry, but you don't have to get so mad." Chung tried calming his friend down.

"What's gotten into you? Usually you're joining the fight right away. Why are you so mad about it?" Raven stated.

"Sorry, but I'm not in the mood." Elsword confessed, as he passed his older friend, getting out of the hot pool. He desperately needed some time alone. The red-headed young man took a small, plain white towel and wrapped it around his waist, while with another one he rubbed his wet hair, trying to dry it as much as he could before going out into the cold.

Out on the patio, the sheer cold was stinging his damp skin, forcing him to shiver and sneeze. Despite the cold weather, he felt as if his mind and feelings were cooling down, too. His hot breath was giving off small clouds of mist in the air, as it collided with the chilly air. He found it relaxing, and fascinating at the same time so he kept on repeating the same action, as if trying to see his thoughts into the fading haze. Aisha was all he saw around him, in the air, into his mind, into the land, everywhere. He was really homesick, he wanted to get back more than anything and get her to cook for him again, as his stomach growled loudly at the thought of her cookies and tea. He chuckled lightly and stared deeply into the moon, sighing hoarsely. That sounded more like a desperate yell to him, so he got up and started walking towards the inn, hoping no one saw him releasing his frustration.

A few more steps before entering the main hall, Elsword heard laughs, followed by men's voices, who seemed to mean trouble. The young knight walked to his right and spotted a few men, older than him, harassing a young woman, keeping her gaze fixated on the ground, her expression filled with fear.

"Alone, young missy? What are you doing at this late hour by yourself?" one of the thugs smirked slyly.

"No boyfriend with you? You know, something bad could happen if you keep going out at this hour in the night. Since we are nice, we can take you home. Come on, lead the way!" another one joined the talk, grabbing the girl from the shoulders, pulling her along with him.

"L-let me go! Don't touch me!" the young girl cried and pulled herself from the man's grip, trying to run away.

"Hey, you brat! We were nice enough to offer to take you home and that's how you repay us?! Now, I'm mad and you're gonna be sorry, missy." he grabbed her arm tightly, making the girl flinch and wince in pain, dragging her closer to him, but pushing themselves against the cold and hard wall.

Elsword couldn't stand seeing where this went, so he stepped in.

"Hey, what the hell do you think you're doing, you bunch of old idiots?" he yelled, revealing himself and entering a battle stance, in case things got out of hand.

"Huh? What is this, are you a knight in white armor or what?" the man laughed, pointing at the white towel hanging around Elsword's waist. The boy sweat-dropped, but kept his cool and his serious expression, a thing hard to do when you're battling in nothing but a towel around your manhood, ready to fall any second now.

With a sign of the hand, five massive men threw themselves at the young man, clenching their fists, ready to hit Elsword with enough force to make him sleep for a couple of days. But he was smarter and faster than those brutes and he knew it: he fell back and jumped on a barrel nearby, slamming his right foot in one man's head, knocking him unconscious. Grabbing one of the other henchmen, he twisted his arm and knocked him on the ground, then landing another hit around his neck, leaving him asleep and breathless for a short while. Getting cocky all too much, he showed off by doing multiple dangerous stunts, but managed to knock down most of his opponents. Letting his guard down at the very end, the man holding the girl hit him from behind with a wooden pole, imbued with nails, stabbing Elsword dangerously across his backside. He regained his senses fast enough to dodge another hit and got a hold of the improvised weapon, pulling it from his attacker. He then swung it as if it was his own sword, ignoring the stinging pain in his back and the hot liquid dripping from his wound, threatening him to become weak and dizzy from the blood loss. He knew he had to finish this fast, so with a high jump he managed to slam the pole in the ruffian's head and drop him unconscious just like his friends.

Tired and cold, he dropped the wooden pole and started heading for his room, hoping to get to have a hot shower and clean his back without being spotted by Raven and Chung. He was stopped, though, by a small shivering hand placed lightly on his shoulder. When he turned around, he was greeted by a pair of frightened green eyes, and a panting and exhausted face.

"T-thank you!" the girl managed to say, looking worriedly around his backside. "Thank you so much, I don't know what would've become of me if you hadn't showed up." she added.

"Meh, it's no big deal." Elsword replied and started walking again towards his room.

"Wait, you're hurt." the young woman tried to stop him.

"Ah, this? This is no big deal. I've had worse." Elsword laughed, trying to calm the girl, but only ended up scaring her even more. "I'm gonna get home and treat it." he gave off a beaming smile, only to realize he couldn't straighten his back because of a powerful wave of pain coming from the gash between his shoulder blades and coming down until just above his rear. He was heavily bleeding and he knew he had to treat it fast, so he didn't waste any second longer in heading back to his room.

Elsword hid himself from anyone's view and managed to get to his room's door unspotted. He carefully listened to see if his friends had come back from the hot spring, which they hadn't, much to his delight. He ran into the bathroom and locked the door behind him, just to make sure he wouldn't be bothered. In the mirror, he spotted that the wound was more serious than he thought and his entire backside was bathed in red liquid, dripping onto the towel around his waist. He took it off and searched himself everywhere to see if he could spot any other injured areas. He then walked into the shower and turned on the water, waiting for it to turn warm. Elsword gritted his teeth when the hot water touched his back, stinging him hardly across his backside, but he told himself he had to endure it. The water pouring off him was tainted in ashade of pink, a light red, from all the blood trickling from him. After a couple of minutes, he finally got out and tried wrapping some white bandage around him, managing only to make a mess from the white material. He yelled frustrated and threw the bandage into the nearest wall with enough force to pierce through it. Despite that, the reel bumped into the blue tile and fell on the floor, undoing itself even more. Defeated, Elsword slowly fell against the wall and remained there, motionless, feeling the chillness of the tiles penetrate his skin and at the same time, take away the pain in his strong muscles.

"Why aren't you here?" he muttered to himself, thinking of the female mage he held so dear. "Why aren't you here to treat my wounds and yell at me for being reckless and careless?"

He was starting to get dizzy and gave a long yawn, sign that he had to go to sleep soon, or he would just fall flat on his face somewhere. He got out of the bathroom and grabbed his nightwear, consisting of a plain red T-shirt and a pair of long, gray sweatpants. He threw himself on the bed and wrapped the covers around him, trying to warm his still aching body. He prayed that his gash wouldn't open again and bleed on the bed for the other two to see and drifted off to sleep.

Sometime later, Raven and Chung came back to the room to find Elsword sound asleep. They both gave a sigh in relief that nothing happened to him, went to their respective beds and fell asleep not a second later.

* * *

The next morning, Elsword woke up first and by the time his friends were awake, he was fully dressed and ready to head back home. They travelled by carriage and even though Camilla was driving like a madwoman, the road home seemed so long that Elsword thought that time itself was making fun of him and his desperate urge to see Aisha. Finally, at sunset, they had all arrived back in Velder. Camilla stopped in the centre of the Capital, near a huge fountain, where they said their goodbyes and each of them went their own way.

Raven grabbed his backpack and also handed Chung his, waiting to see what the others were doing.

"Ah~! Finally, we're back! I'm tired as hell so don't count me in for anything in the next couple of days." Chung stretched himself and started heading towards his home, on a long alley.

Raven stared at him until he disappeared between the large buildings, then casted his gaze upon his red-headed friend.

"I'm gonna head home, too." Elsword said, answering the question lying in Raven's eyes. "You should do the same." he added.

They waved each other and took on separate ways. Elsword didn't hold his backpack on his back, because of his still painful wound, so it was pretty hard for him to walk by holding it in one hand. His mind wandered off again on how to meet his mage girl, what to say to her and how to ask her to bake those cookies again. Wait…did he just call Aisha 'his'?! Despite the astonishment the statement had caused, he felt good thinking of Aisha as being his. It gave him confidence and made him grow cocky again, knowing that he would be the only one she loved. He imagined eyes staring upon her and men coming and crowding in, offering her so many valuable things and promises, yet she would tell them all that she loves Elsword, that she belongs to him. He couldn't help himself and started grinning wildly at that last thought, encouraging himself to try even harder to tell her how he feels and that he also wanted to be hers, so that fleeting feeling of pride would become permanent in his heart.

Lost in thoughts again, he didn't realize that the houses were getting scarcer and scarcer and the great lights illuminating the Capital were being replaced by rustic lamp posts placed on each side of the road. Only rural homes remained in the area, creating a beautiful, nostalgic scenery for the young knight. It was seconds later that he realized where he was heading. Thinking about all that was bothering him and fantasizing about Aisha, his feet dragged him towards the source of his lingering thoughts and while his mind was clouded with dreams of her, his body brought him to the mage's house. He was speechless and the more he tried finding out how he got there in the first place, the more his body gave up on him and started showing the first signs of exhaustion. His back started stinging him again and his feet were sore and shivering. Even so, he couldn't move until his mind was clear: he always heard stories when he was younger that the hero's feet would take him to his heroine without his own accord, but he was mature enough to realize they were only stories and such thing would never happen in real life. Yet there he was, living proof of that fact he never believed in.

Aware that his body would soon give up on him, he rushed towards her house. Even though he has been there only once, he remembered it clearly and the events that evening were coming to haunt him at night every now and then. The well-kept garden was filled with fruit, vegetables and flowers, ready to be picked a few days from now. The large swing was swaying with the wind and the pillow and blanket which used to rest on it were gone now. Probably Aisha was taking them inside to shield them from the cold and damp outside. The lights in the house were on, sign that she was home and awake, much to his happiness. He dragged his body along the small path in her garden. Standing in the doorway, the smell of freshly made food tickled his nose and his stomach started growling loudly. He dropped his backpack on the ground with a loud 'thud!' and knocked firmly at the door. Footsteps were heard from the inside and soon the door opened, revealing Aisha standing in the doorway.

She was wearing a long, gray jacket with a hood and a v-shaped low-cut neck. On the front chest area, there was a big red heart and beneath, around the lower belly area, there was a large pocket in the middle. The top was so long, it reached until underneath her butt. The sleeves were also a little bit long for her, but that was exactly what was giving the entire blouse charm. She was wearing big wool socks, completed by a pair of gaiters, matching her stockings and were those…boxers?! Elsword blushed madly when he realized she was in fact, not wearing any pants, but a pair of purple boxers, showing themselves just a little from underneath the long jacket. He desperately tried to look the other way, but it was hard to do so, when the source of all your fantasies was standing in front of you in a pair of hot boxers.

"Elsword?" she broke the silence, also snapping him from his day-dream. "When did you get back? What are you doing here?" she asked when she saw his backpack thrown in front of her door.

Elsword, in return, smiled and gave up to the fatigue which took over his body and fell in her arms with eyes closed tightly.

"Elsword!" she yelled and that was the last thing he heard before sleep took over him and his consciousness was lost.


	5. Unspoken Feelings

**Chapter 5**

The candles blowing in the room were giving off a sweet scent of strawberries and forest fruit as the light they emanated was flickering with the small wave of wind drifting throughout the small house. The window was chilled at the edges, sign that the weather outside was worthy to host the soon-to-come winter. Still, inside was warm and cozy and the smell of cinnamon and tea was filling the female mage's senses. With a book in her hand, Aisha was lost between the lines, focusing on the story she was reading at the moment. Across from her, on a huge armchair, her petit demon was purring delighted, sound asleep, wrapped in a soft, blue blanket. The silence was broken even more by a shifting young man, who changed his position on the sofa near her, snapping Aisha out of her train of thoughts. She was now aware of his presence again and looked at him, checking his features and wounds. The mage put the book down and kneeled across him to examine his gash and bandages and tightening the knot on the white material a little bit, since he shifted a few times and undid it. He grunted when she touched the painful area, making her retreat her hand quickly and stare at his face, waiting for a reaction. Instead, his face frowned and he moved his head the other way. Aisha scolded herself for reacting so cowardly and proceeded to finish the medical treatment.

When he popped up at her door, she was amazed but at the same time glad and relieved that he was back safe and visiting her. She wanted to know his reasons for coming to see her and asked him so. His reaction scared her like she never has been, when he smiled exhausted and fainted at her feet. All she could manage to do was scream his name, trying to keep him awake, to no avail. Holding him in her arms, she realized that his body was colder than normal, but his back was dripping a hot liquid. His body was wounded and the hand she used to hold his back above the ground was now stained with his blood. Alerted, she acted fast and took him inside with the help of Anger and started treating him like her own life depended on it. When she took his clothes off, Aisha gasped when she saw the large wound starting from between his shoulder blades and reaching until above his butt cheeks. Her stomach churned and her heart felt smaller than ever and as she treated him, her hands shook violently, making the procedure even harder. Wiping her sweaty forehead, she calmed down and breathed deeply. Anger stared at Elsword anxiously, occasionally squeaking in hope that he will wake up.

He did not wake up even now, but he seemed to be tormented by some dreams and shifted on the couch, sometimes even violently. Recalling the events that happened earlier that evening, Aisha's heart started beating faster and checked on him the hundredth time since he arrived there, just to soothe her lingering fears. She realized that only time would show her if he was fully alright or not and that she had to take her mind off this matter by occupying herself with different activities around the house. She baked some goodies and made some potato stew, along with some tea. She tended to the flowers in the rooms and cleaned even where it was already crystal clear. When the physical activities ended, she took a book, seated herself near him and started reading it while glancing at him every five minutes.

She resumed from where she had left before adjusting his bandages and placed her hand on his head, when he started frowning again. Aisha gently caressed the back of his neck up until the top of his head, feeling his hair against her fingers. She was pleasantly surprised to feel that his bright red hair was extremely soft, despite his spiky look and the scarce attention it was receiving from the young knight. She kept feeling and pressing her slender fingers upon his head, neck and sometimes she would slip her hand on his cheeks. Never averting her gaze from the book, she repeated the same action for what seemed like hours.

* * *

His nose picked up different sweet fragrances around him. He tried recognizing them, finding it harder than he imagined. His body felt numb, but some lingering pain still could be felt from his backside. Elsword felt restrained around his middle body and as time passed, he realized it was actually a bandage wrapped around him until his shoulders. He was covered with a soft blanket, keeping him warm and comfortable, but something else seemed to make him feel even better. A certain touch was making him remember his younger years, when his mother or big sister was caressing his head before going to bed, telling him a story or singing him a lullaby. It took him a while to realize that this wasn't the case and that the touch belonged to somebody else. Though the fatigue was still holding a tight grip on his body, he struggled to open his eyes and look around him. The house seemed familiar to him and the smell made his stomach beg to be fed. 'Ah, I remember now. I fainted in Aisha's doorway.' he laughed at the last part. 'I'm going to get scolded for this one.'

He focused on her comforting touch and sighed contently, as more dizziness took over him. Without realizing she was standing near his head, he raised his body a little and placed his head on her lap, imagining it was a pillow, and wrapped one arm around her waist while the other hugged her legs tightly. He felt so comfortable, as her heat was enveloping his half-naked body and gave another sigh filled with delight. Aisha dropped her book and blushed madly, not knowing how to react when things got like this, so she remained there, frozen in place and hoped he did not wake up.

Minutes passed and they stood there, unmoved, Elsword sleeping soundly and Aisha blushing at his actions. When she finally dared to move, she found the whole situation quite relaxing and it felt as though it was something normal, something natural, it didn't seem strange anymore. The young mage placed her hand on his head once more and started petting his hair and removing some red strands of it from his face. Then, she moved her hand and caressing to his covered back, where she tried being gentler. At first, he displayed a frowning expression, but steadily turned back to a pleased face, which gave her confidence to keep going. She took the book yet again and with a smile on her face, she resumed reading from where she had dropped the book.

Half an hour later, Elsword began to shift again, more powerful this time, forcing Aisha to move with him and pet him livelier in order to calm down whatever bad dream he was having.

"Hmpupmh…" he kept shaking more violently. "N-no!" he started yelling.

"Elsword?! What's wrong? Hey, you, wake up, it's only a dream!" Aisha tried comforting him.

"N-no, no, no! AISHA!" he gave one last yell, more powerful than the others, as he woke up and stood up in a flash, forcing Aisha to drop her book and stare at him worriedly.

"Els? It's ok, it was just a dream." she said with the sweetest voice she could manage, while placing both her hands behind his neck and drag him towards her in a warm hug. "It's alright now." she repeated when she saw that Elsword's body was shaking all over. Pulling the covers over him again, she wanted to place him on the couch to sleep again, but a pair of strong hands stopped her.

"I don't feel like sleeping anymore." he said, eyes hidden behind his bangs and head lowered, facing the ground.

"What did you dream about?" Aisha questioned him.

"N-nothing. I don't remember." he lied.

"But you were screaming my name."

"I was?!" Elsword blushed lightly and looked away, trying to sound convincing.

She just stared at him dumbfounded, studying his features in search for a reason why he was acting so strangely and why he kept screaming her name.

Elsword, in exchange, did not want to remember about the dream he just had. The images kept running themselves in his mind, not leaving him alone. He dreamt about the night where she saved the girl from the group of thugs, but in his dream, Aisha was in the girl's place and Elsword couldn't move his body for some reason, so all he could do was watch as his love was struggling against the brutes' tight grips and their perverted faces. Of course he would be screaming her name like that, it was the worst nightmare he could possibly have at that time. He realized he was being held tightly by her in a slightly uncomfortable position, so his back started aching in the lower parts. Elsword winced and straightened his position, while Aisha took her hands off him when she heard his painful cry.

"Do you need anything?" her kind voice echoed through the room, reaching his ears.

"Not really." he answered bluntly, moment in which his stomach picked up the scent of food again and started growling louder than ever, earning some giggles from the young girl.

"I'll be right back." she managed to say, while she got up and headed towards the kitchen, relieved that she had already cooked something.

Aisha took a clean plate and filled it with fresh stew, while the tea was getting ready. With another swift movement she grabbed a tray and placed the stew on it and some sweet bread she had just found. On a beautifully decorated platter, she placed some cookies and other sweet treats she had baked and placed this one on the tray, too. The water for the tea started boiling, so the young mage added the plant leaves to the kettle and waited a few more minutes, before pouring it into a big cup and shedding two spoons of honey, to make it sweeter, just like the red knight liked it.

Elsword was waiting silently on the couch, still wrapped in the soft blanket. He never ceased to look at her from the moment she had entered the room with the food, until she had placed the tray in front of him. Everything looked delicious and Elsword barely managed to keep his composure with all that food laid on the table, waiting for him to dig in.

"What are you waiting for, aren't you hungry?" she looked at him with a sly grin plastered on her beautiful face. "Well, if you aren't, I can take it all back in the kitchen." she added and spread her arm to grab the food, moment in which Elsword grabbed the tray and put it out of her reach. Taking the plate of stew, he started eating, taking huge bites of it, adding some bread with it at the last moment before swallowing hard, almost choking.

"Hey, slow down, I was joking. There's more in the kitchen if you want." she laughed and sat herself on the other couch, the one across from Elsword.

"It's not that." he looked at the variety of savory foods she had offered him. "It's just that I'm so hungry, I feel like fainting. I know you wouldn't take food from me, or anyone, you're not that kind of person. Knowing you, you would rather faint from starvation than see someone else stay hungry." he smiled.

"You already did the fainting part of it, so care to explain why I went through the most frightening few hours of my entire life, trying to save your life?" she asked, trying to ignore the compliment he just threw at her, maybe not even realizing.

She looked at his face as his features turned to a frown and his movements slowed to a stop. 'By the looks of it, he did something bad' Aisha thought.

"Elsword, what did you do?" she asked, anxiety and curiosity taking over her.

"I got in a fight with some crooks, ok?" he answered pissed.

"Crooks? Last time you said that, the so-called 'crooks' were our client's acquaintances and you beat the crap out of them AND we had to pay for the collateral damage." she sighed exasperatedly.

"No, this time they were mere thugs." he calmed his tone. "They were picking on a girl on a small side-alley near our inn. I couldn't let them do it." he said, never averting his gaze from the plate.

Sighing the hundredth time that night, Aisha gave up trying to say anything anymore, knowing that it would not change the way he thought. But he was, indeed, kind and _crazy_ enough to battle a dozen grown-up men to save a girl. He would go that far for someone.

"Still, I don't get how you actually got a gash this severe. You usually get scratches or bruises, _this _is way more than that."

"I didn't have my sword." Aisha gave him a weird look. "Or my armor." Another weird look. "Ok, ok!" he yelled, defeated. "I was in a towel!" he blushed madly and drank some tea, before digging himself more in the stew plate.

Aisha looked at him, more than amazement written on her face, her eyes snapped open, her mouth the same, but words did not come out since she did not know what to say in this situation.

"So, you battled some men harassing a girl in the middle of the night, in nothing but a towel wrapped around you at minus a few degrees outside." she concluded, when she got her train of thoughts moving again.

"Yea" he smiled idiotically.

"YOU IDIOT!" she snapped at him, getting up from the couch and clenching her fists tightly. "How much more reckless can you get?! You could've at least found something to use as a weapon!" she yelled from the top of her lungs. She had all the right in the world to be mad and Elsword knew it, so he just stood there and accepted her scolding like a man. After all, he had anticipated her tantrum, but at the same time he understood her reason since she was worried about him all the time, even though she denied it.

"I just can't believe how you could put yourself in danger like that, not thinking of anything when barging in battle! I really don't know what you're thinking most of the times or if you would come back alive. How much more are you going to worry me like that?" her voice started to break as her eyes were beginning to leak at the sides. "Do you even know how it feels like to stay and pray that your best friend comes back alive?! No, you don't know that feeling, but it's a feeling that kills you inside more than being hurt in battle!" she let her tears run down her flushed cheeks and covered her face with her sleeves, trying to hold back her sobs.

Elsword stared at her with amazement in his eyes, but mostly because of what she had said to him, words that meant more to him that she could ever imagine. 'How much more are you going to worry me like that?' or 'Do you even know how it feels like to stay and pray that your best friend comes back alive?!' were some of the phrases his mind wouldn't stop repeating over and over. But even more than that, he stared at Aisha, who was now sitting crouched on the couch, with her knees shielding her face, crying to her heart's content. Only one thought remained unmoved in the back of his mind. It was his own voice talking to him, telling him the thing he swore never to do again: 'You've hurt her yet again.'

Aisha became aware of the fact that she was crying in front of him, and she thought he probably saw her as being weak and weird, but she was so worried when he fell in her arms at her door. She put everything she had into saving him and the only thing he could do now was tell her what had happened like it was nothing, or not telling her at all. Deciding it was time to end her tears, she got up and headed for the bathroom, when a pair of strong hands stopped her in her tracks. She turned around to protest, only to be dragged closer and wrapped in a tight and warm embrace. Her eyes snapped open and her hands made their way up to free herself, but Aisha find it hard to do so since his grip was unwavering. Instead, she let herself be embraced and took in his scent and heat, finding those two things more pleasant than she had imagined. Elsword burrowed his face in her hair and breathed in slowly every time, while caressing her back with one hand and her head with the other.

When her sobs subsided and her shaking body relaxed and gave in to him, he displayed a weak smile and managed to say near her ear.

"I'm so sorry." he apologized, blowing some hot air on her neck, making the poor mage shiver with unconditioned excitement.

"You're truly an idiot." she barely managed to whisper between her late sobs.

"Yeah, I am, but bear with me a little more." he smiled full of satisfaction, a grin even Aisha could feel against her skin.

They remained there, none of them moving, until Elsword started feeling dizzy and cold and relied on her small body for support. Aisha felt that he had started becoming weak, so she pulled away, earning a whine of disappointment from the knight. She held him tight as they walked towards the couch, Aisha placing the injured Elsword back and wrapping him in blankets and covers again. Looking at her moist cheeks, he couldn't stop but feel guilty for it and that he had to show her he was truly sorry.

"Aisha…" he said, forcing her to turn around and look at him. He slid one hand around her waist again and the other on her right cheek, pulling her closer and closer to him until his lips crashed on hers, earning a whimper of astonishment from the girl.

She stared into nothingness as his lips moved on hers as if they had their own brain. The wave of heat and, at the same time, the amazement that came with his action made her mind go blank and body go numb. She was a puppet in his hands right now, hypnotized by his person. He didn't dare let go, not even when she started protesting against him. He was stronger than her, even in his injured state. With no chance to escape him, Aisha just let her body and instincts take over and wrapped both her small hands around his neck, playing with the red strands of hair. He smirked against her lips, feeling just how easily she was giving in to him and dragged her even closer to him, until she was sitting on his lap and the distance between their bodies was close to none. Only when he needed air, he let go of her sweet lips and smiled at her, looking straight into her eyes.

"I've been waiting for a long time to do this." he laughed, as if he was relieved of something and caressed her hair. "I love you."

She just stared at him, astounded, as he confessed to her in a more…physical and rough way, but that's just how he was. 'Never going by the book' was one of his favorite phrases. Aisha saw nothing but honesty and sheer happiness in his eyes, as he waited for her to say something, to react to his feelings somehow.

In all her life, Aisha had never even dreamt of something like this happening to her. She was ready to live a life of loneliness and sorrow because of her misunderstood magic. It was a price she willingly decided to pay in order to have the power to protect her friends and world. Though she had made the biggest sacrifice, the world she wanted to save treated her like an enemy, like she was the reason for all the bad happening. Her heart was forever broken and she had wanted to be all alone, but fortunately, her friends did not allow that to happen. They would not let her go, despite everything she did. That was her blessing, she realized later during one of their journeys. They wouldn't let her crumble to dust, just as she had wanted to end her life. They would drag her out of the dark, no matter how deep she would fall.

With these thoughts in mind and with her eyes half-lidded, she reached forward and closed Elsword's mouth with her own, enveloping them in another kiss, this time a more heated one. Aisha hugged Elsword with all her heart, pulling him as close as he could get and even more. He was delighted to hear, or more specifically _feel _her answer and he could easily declare himself the happiest man in the world. The love that he has been longing for so long is returning his feelings and she is, in his eyes, the most perfect person in that world. She is kind, loving, passionate, caring, strong, a good friend, a _brilliant_ chef and had an amazing body to sum up the entire picture. Elsword loved her from head to toe, everything about her made him go crazy and lose his cool.

With Aisha in his arms, he got up and wrapped her legs around his waist, holding her like she was about to be dragged away from him. 'NO!' he yelled in his mind. 'No one will take her away from me anymore.' he growled in his mind, silently vowing not to let any man touch-or even _look_ at her-anymore. She belonged to him now, and only him. He started walking, slamming themselves into a few walls, from the dizziness and excitement of it all, and finally entering a room in her small home. 'Oh, God, please let this be the bedroom!' he pleaded, trying to hide his uncertainty from the girl.

Fortunately for him, this was, indeed, her bedroom so he stopped and looked around for a moment, while she gasped for air. The room wasn't quite large and it had everything necessary: a drawer, a mirror with a chair and a small make-up table, another bookshelf and two nightstands. But what attracted Elsword's attention was the _huge_ canopy bed in the middle of the room, one side against the wall. That bed could easily host five-six people in it and still have some spare room. The velvet material falling from the metallic bars of the canopy was wrapped carefully around the edges of the bed and the bars themselves, while at the head of the bed and the foot, instead of a headboard, it had a beautiful pattern made of metallic ornaments. The sheets were tidily arranged on the bed and a countless pillows were resting at the side, where the bed touched the wall. 'I guess it suits the princess' Elsword laughed, when he freed himself from the amazement his discovery had caused him.

"What's wrong?" Elsword was brought back and realized Aisha was staring at him from his arms, eyes fully opened now.

"Nothing." he smiled kindly. "Everything's perfect." he added, while applying some kisses on her face, where moist stains remained from her crying.

Moving deeper into the room, his back started aching again and Elsword cursed under his breath. 'Ugh, not now!' he endured the pain and even though it hurt, it wasn't as bad as before since Aisha had treated him so carefully. He placed the young mage gently on the bed, caressing her thighs and holding her head tightly just as if she was made of porcelain, ready to break at any time. Elsword scolded himself for thinking so lowly about her and proceeded with kissing her senseless. She held him close to her, feeling his heat rising, but still Aisha had to be careful not to touch his wound or bandages. Instead, her hands gently touched the back of his neck, sending him chills on his back and skin, driving him crazy. Kissing her soft, pink lips, he nipped at the lower lip, asking for entrance. She gladly granted him permission and opened her mouth, just a little. This was all he needed, so he slid his tongue inside and started dancing with hers. With his skillful hands, he dragged her blouse up until just underneath her breasts and started caressing and feeling the creamy skin of her belly. With one swift movement, he parted their lips and removed the piece of clothing, immediately reclaiming her lips. Aisha was surprised by this and couldn't help herself but question where the hell did he learn how to do that?

Releasing her mouth in need for air, he proceeded placing kisses on her cheeks, jaw and afterwards, on her neck, making her squeal in pleasure. He applied a devilish smirk on his face when he found that one place that made her scream his name, the place that was her weakness and kept on nibbling on that spot, driving her insane. He knew that would leave marks and felt so proud of himself by having her wear his mark. Elsword suddenly felt very possessive, more than he had ever felt over small things he found important such as his sword or his food. But none of this compared to her now, none of this compared to the importance of her existence now, when she was finally his, when he finally had her in his arms. He applied more pressure on Aisha at the thoughts he just had, making her gasp in surprise. He kept on kissing and nipping until he had reached the edge of her black, lacy bra. She looked at him, nodding slightly and putting her hands behind her back, unclipping the garment, letting Elsword do the rest of the job removing it.

As the cold air blew on her exposed chest, the young mage covered herself with her hands, shielding the newly discovered area from Elsword's view. Frustrated, he grabbed her hands and pinned them above her head, holding them hard, not allowing the void mage to disturb him while he explored her. The knight stared at her in awe, making her blush madly and shift from underneath him, so he had to restrain her even more.

"D-don't look at me like that!" she complained. "It's embarrassing!"

"Why? You're beautiful." he gave off the most sincere of looks and the sexiest grin he had ever shown, so Aisha relaxed immediately and let him do as he pleased.

With arms still constricted above her head, Elsword came closer to her and began kissing from where he had left, taking one of her hardened pink buds into his hot mouth, sucking on it and playing with his tongue. The mage whimpered loudly, and the young man smiled, pleased by her reaction. He then proceeded with the same treatment for the other breast, while with his right hand he caressed her beautiful butt, pulling at the edge of her matching pair of panties, sign that he wanted them off _now_.

"You still have your pants on. It's not fair!" Aisha said blushing, averting her gaze from his.

"That's what's bothering you?" he laughed, releasing her hands. "If it consoles you, I don't know how to get rid of them faster." he chuckled, reaching his belt and trying to unbuckle it, getting frustrated when it didn't come off. "What the-"

"Here, let me…" Aisha said and all of a sudden, she pushed him on his back, grabbed his belt and undid it quickly. She laughed at his quizzical face and unbuttoned his pants, dragging them off him, leaving him in only his boxers.

His manhood was pressing against the gray material of his underwear and at the sight of it, Aisha's eyes snapped open and couldn't help herself but wonder 'I thought he was just a kid! Is it supposed to be so big?'. At this thought, she blushed even more than before and when Elsword saw her reaction, he tried pushing her back, only to be stopped and pinned down by her.

"W-wait." she whispered, eyes hidden underneath her bangs. At her command, the knight relaxed under her touch and fell on his back again.

Aisha was unsure of what to do. In all the books she had read, this moment was supposed to come naturally, all their moves and thoughts synchronized. But now she realized those were all only tales and nothing real. She was scared by her uncertainty and hoped that Elsword did not notice it, or think of her as being weird. She gently grabbed him from within the material, caressing him and leaning in closer. Elsword stiffened under her touch and she seemed to be pleased by the result. He clenched his fists into the sheets, holding back the instinct of groping every part of her body and ravishing her right now. Instead, he waited and felt her every touch and breath on him and her uncertainty made him feel more than good. Finally, she removed the last part of his clothing and stared at his manhood astounded, for it was her first time. Elsword turned his gaze from the scene in front of him and thought of doing something to break the silence that had fallen, when a small, hot tongue brushed the tip of his throbbing member. Elsword groaned loudly and threw his head in one of the many pillows, enjoying her treatment, but at the same time, desperately trying to hold back his instincts. Aisha shyly took him inside her mouth more and more with each time her head went down on his length. Elsword felt his mind slowly go insane with her actions and something inside him was swelling up, right around his lower part of the body and he knew that if he didn't stop this, he would come too soon. With one yell of her name, he grabbed her roughly and threw her on her back, slamming his lips onto hers once more, this time not even asking for her permission, he slid his tongue inside and danced with hers hungrily. With one hand, he removed her last piece of underwear away and spreading her legs apart, he licked his lips and gave her womanhood the same treatment he received. Aisha gasped when his tongue touched her core and mewled so loud, Elsword could swear the neighbors were hearing everything. But he didn't care, if it was after him, the whole world should hear the fact that she belonged to him now, that she loves him and nobody else. He suckled and licked her wet core like she was some kind of treat to him and her movements were driving him to do even more with her. Her flailing was following no pattern at all, she just moved and shifted underneath him with the wave of pleasure he induced her, mewling and whining every time he hit a good spot.

Deciding she had enough of the sweet torture, Elsword got up and moved his hand on one of her sides, from the thighs until her face, counting each rib as he passed by and feeling her soft skin against his fingers. Looking in her lust clouded eyes, he kissed her again on her sweet lips and chuckled.

"I think you're ready for me." he smirked devilishly for the tenth time that night, as Aisha's face turned to a frown. Spotting her features, he leaned closer and spoke to her with his mouth brushing her cheek. "I'll make it as gentle as I can." he assured her.

The want inside her was more powerful than her fear, so Aisha gave in to him and closed her eyes, while he placed himself at her entrance. With one powerful thrust, he broke into her, earning a desperate yelp from the mage beneath him. Elsword kissed her senseless, swallowing her sobs and as tears fell from the corner of her eyes, he would brush them away with his hands. He froze in place, too scared to move, whispering apologies and words of encouragement.

'It wasn't supposed to be like this!' Aisha cried in her mind. 'It wasn't supposed to hurt so bad. It wasn't supposed to hurt at all!' she gave another whimper and Elsword hugged her tighter.

"Aisha!" Elsword's voice rang through her ears, snapping her out of her daze and her eyes pried open. "Do you want to…stop?" he asked her, pain obvious in his eyes.

She stared at him, hypnotized by his beauty, by the honest features on his face. He was worried about her and he was willing to stop this beautiful moment and the sensations which came with it all because he cared about her feelings, too. She couldn't give this up now, she would do it for him, for them both. His also lust clouded face was flushed with a tint of red, similar to his hair and was frowned with worry. His toned muscles were holding him above her, relying on his strong arms, each placed on one side of her head. His entire body was worked up and strong muscles were giving him beautiful-no, _hot_-features, ones that every woman in that world wished their boyfriends had, yet there he was, hovering above her, offering her his entire existence.

For that reason only, she could keep going, so she shifted her hips only a little bit, surprised to see that the pain mostly subsided. Elsword clenched his teeth at the wave of pleasure he was shot with and looked at his love with hope in his eyes.

"No" she answered his earlier question. "I want you" Aisha filled his body with happiness and she smiled, seeing the delight written on face.

At first, Elsword pushed himself slow into her, watching her every reaction carefully, not wanting to cause her any more displeasure. He placed her legs over his shoulders and, when her sign of discomfort disappeared, he was given courage to try and go faster, so he did so. Her mewls were driving him insane and she kept saying his name as if it was a mantra, a magic spell. He couldn't care if it was so, but that voice of hers sounded like angels singing to him. He wanted to see more of those expressions of hers, he wanted to hear more of that bashful, sweet voice of hers he could drown in, he wanted to hear her say his name again and again.

"Els!" she cried his name when he hit a good spot inside her, sending chills on her already heated skin.

Because of him, her creamy skin was so warm and her voice was so blissful, he was driven over the edge with another powerful wave of pleasure. He knew he wasn't going to last for long and she was feeling the same, so he spread her legs more apart and let himself fall upon her, thrusting more and more powerful with each second, kissing her more sensual than the first times. A few thrusts later, Elsword released himself into her, while she screamed his name, throwing her head back and arching her body, hugging the knight's waist tightly with her legs.

They remained there, panting and sweaty, Elsword still above Aisha, feeling her body cool down from his actions. After a while, he shifted and placed himself near her, hugging and dragging the tired mage into his arms, sliding one hand on her head and the other around her waist.

"Els…?" Aisha asked sleepy, looking at him and feeling his embrace getting tighter and tighter.

"Sleep." Elsword responded and kissed her forehead, wiping away some purple strand of hair from her face.

Aisha didn't have much power to question him anymore, so she slowly drifted to sleep, with the knight's gaze falling on her. Elsword was beyond happy and he was scared that this might be a dream, so he stood staring at her, making the moment last longer. Her angelic and peaceful face was making him feel calm and beyond happy. Feeling his own fatigue drawing close to him, he placed his head in the crook of her neck and fell asleep breathing her scent contently.


	6. Her Heart

**Chapter 6**

Through the thick, purple curtains, sunbeams reached Elsword's sleeping body, forcing his content face into a frown and making him shift away, shielding his eyes from the source of light. He was stopped, though, when he hit a small figure resting beside him. The red knight snapped his eyes open to see a small young lady sleeping soundly on his chest, her face peaceful and happy. Her silky hair was flawing on her shoulders, and some of it even onto him, so he took the purple strands in his hand and caressed them, careful not to wake his lover up. Elsword couldn't help but smile at the sight in front of him and moved his hand on her cheeks, then on her neck, shoulders and as far as he could reach on her hips, feeling her creamy, soft skin against his fingers, leaving goose bumps in his track. A chuckle escaped his lips as he saw the way her body was reacting to his touch and couldn't help but feel cocky when he thought about just how long had she felt like this about him and how many times had she denied her true feelings. 'If it's the same as me, it has been too damn long.' he thought, a sigh of relief escaping his lips. Dragging the covers over them, he succumbed to sleep once more, hoping for a few more hours of rest before starting the day.

* * *

When he woke up once again, he was greeted by a strange feeling of chill and when he opened his eyes, his uncertainties have been dispelled when he realized that the female magician was no longer sleeping beside him. Elsword frantically got up and searched the room with his gaze, finding her nowhere. 'Was it a dream?' he questioned himself in his mind, worry written all over his face. But by the fact that he was in her bedroom meant that it all happened just as he recalled. Memories of last night came crowding in his mind, forcing him into a state of reverie, making his body feel peculiar by recreating the sensations he felt before.

Feeling the urge to see her, Elsword got up and explored the room once again with his gaze, this time trying to find some of his clothes. His boxers were resting on the small chair near the mirror, so he took them and swiftly pulled them on, while exiting the room.

On the couch, Aisha's petit demon, Anger, was munching on a wild berry, still wrapped in the blankets his owner gave to him. Upon entering the room, Anger's eyes lost interest in the fruit and instead focused on the knight standing in the doorway. The demon's judgmental gaze was making Elsword uncomfortable and he found out that he was stunned for some reason. His muscles wouldn't move and his eyes didn't dare move from the demon's. Anger, at the same time, stared unwavered, his face emotionless except for his signature grin which began to terrify the poor red knight. None of them dared make a sound, they were studying each other from head to toe, trying to read the opponent's mind. When the demon got bored, his small mouth released a chuckle and a sly grin then proceeded to nibble the fruit once again, leaving Elsword dumbstruck.

"What the hell's that supposed to mean?!" he snapped angrily, clenching his fist in order to intimidate the small creature, to no avail.

Anger continued to ignore him and focused entirely on his food, making the young knight even angrier.

"Listen when someone is talking to you!" Elsword kept yelling at the small creature.

"Els?" Aisha appeared from behind the angry young man. "What's wrong?" the mage questioned him worriedly.

She was instead greeted by him with a tight hug, instead of an immediate answer, which caught her off-guard.

" 'Morning!" Elsword whispered in her ear, causing a shiver to go down her spine, forcing her to hug him back.

"Good morning." she answered his greeting and couldn't help but wonder what made him go into this state of uncertainty, making his voice shiver a little and his body to desperately seek hers.

The red knight relieved her from the hug, but held her shoulders in place, while he checked her with his serious eyes. With one hand, he stroke one tuft of hair, only to realize it was wet. Throwing her a quizzical look, he proceeded to check her entire head to find out it was all the same.

"I was feeling kinda sore this morning" she said, a tint of red staining her pale cheeks "so I took a shower." she answered his unspoken question.

With a soft smile, Elsword took Aisha in his arms once more, this time crashing his lips onto hers, hungrily demanding entrance and hands wavering above every part of her body.

"E-els? What's wrong?" she tried speaking to him against his lips, coming out more as a moan but as a question.

He stopped and looked at her, then gave himself in to her cute, worried face and told her what bothered his mind.

"I was scared when I couldn't find you in bed this morning. I thought it was all just a dream." he confessed shyly, avoiding her gaze.

His face gave off so much honesty, Aisha couldn't believe he was the same guy who would yell to every enemy that he is the strongest man in that world and that would think with his stomach rather than his brain. She couldn't help herself when a chuckle escaped her bruised lips, making him feel more embarrassed and confused.

"Why are you laughing? I was actually worried."

"I know, I know." she calmed herself. "That's why I'm laughing." she forced him to throw her a more dumbfounded face than before. "It's just that you surprised me. With everything." she gave him a kind and assuring look, releasing him of his doubts and stress, his muscles finally relaxing.

Aisha untangled herself from his arms, walked around the room and grabbed a set of clothes for him, from his backpack. They were clean, unused, so she decided they were fit, even though they were a little thin for this time of the year. Handing them to her lover, she pointed him to the bathroom and pushed him gently around his belly area, careful not to cause him any more pain.

"You have everything in there, the soap is on the right and the shampoo is the one on the left. When you go in, take off your bandages and put them on the side, I'll patch you up again after you get out." he just stared at her in awe, as she gave him instructions and pointed in every direction, like he was retarded somehow. But he didn't care anymore about such small things. Instead, he pouted, just like a small kid in front of her.

"What now?" she put her hands on her hips, looking at him judgmentally, waiting to hear his reason for still being around.

"Why did you take a shower first?"

"Huh?"

"We were supposed to have a bath together!" he yelled, obviously bothered by this matter. "You ruined the fun of 'the next morning'!" she was getting redder and redder with each word he said.

"'T-the next morning'?" Aisha questioned, almost mad.

"Yea, we were supposed to wake up by each other's side, cuddle until late morning, have a hot and long bath together, while blowing soap bubbles into the bathroom, then have breakfast while cuddled, maybe even in the swing, outside."

He was fantasizing. He was really spilling his fantasies out loud in front of her. Aisha couldn't believe what she was hearing. This was an unbelievable turn of events and she was still struck with awe. His blabbering about the events that should have happened that day was fascinating her as well as annoying her at most.

"…And then tell the others that we are finally together. I mean, that's how it's supposed to happen the first time. This was your first time, right?"

Somewhere in the back of the room, cuddled in blankets and still munching on a wild fruit, the demon smirked and chuckled as he foresaw the events in the near future. As silence fell in the small house, Anger let out a shriek of excitement and a stifled laugh. After all, he loved witnessing a murder early in the morning.

"YOU IDIOT!" Aisha yelled from the top of her lungs, making the said fool cringe and flinch, while putting some distance between them. "You ruined the moment COMPLETELY!" she added, grabbing a towel and throwing it in his head with enough force to bruise. "You jerk! How can you say that to a lady?!"

The knight took shelter behind the bathroom door and started undressing himself and preparing for his shower. After a while, everything went silent, so Elsword assumed that Aisha had finally calmed herself and forgave him. Setting aside the bandages and the boxers, he entered the bathtub and let the hot water flow onto him.

* * *

Opening the door, Elsword came out fully dressed and wiping away the dampness from his almost-dried hair. Glancing around him, he realized the girl was nowhere to be found.

"Aisha?" he asked, loud enough to be heard in the entire house. After searching everywhere, the young knight tried yelling once more, this time louder. "Aisha?! Look, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to say those things, I mean they just came out the wrong way. You know I am an idiot sometimes, especially in the morning, you tend to remind everyone about that pretty often." he sarcastically retorted the last part.

Desperation slowly taking over him, he proceeded to look again and again around the house, hoping he had missed a room and she was asleep, so she couldn't hear him. Elsword was stopped by a scratching sound, coming from the hallway. Forcing his feet to go faster, he found Anger nipping at the door handle, scratching the door at the bottom when he couldn't manage to move the metal part.

"What's wrong, little potato?" Elsword asked the small demon, but even he was too scared and desperate to start a fight with the young man. Anger just turned around, eyes brimming with tears and face filled with sadness, then continued to force the door open. "Where is she?" Elsword understood the message in the demon's actions and took his coat from his bag and shot out the door, followed by the bat.

It had been snowing for a while now, so the thick layer of white cotton was stained by small footprints heading out of the frozen garden. Elsword followed them until he reached the main road, where tracks of carriages and people made him lose the trail of Aisha's footprints. His gaze desperately searched everywhere around him, while Anger was flying above him, scanning the plaza and trying to feel his master's dark energy pattern. With no sign of her, Elsword released a desperate sigh and took the demon in his hands.

"Where could she be?" came stated the unsolvable dilemma. "Was she planning on going somewhere today?" the young knight questioned the petit demon. With this question, Anger's face lit up and jumped from the warmth of Elsword's embrace, facing him with utmost seriousness and squealing rapidly. "You know where she is?" Elsword understood the little guy's gestures and feelings and followed him around, as he flew rapidly around the busy plaza.

His labored breath had eventually turned into pants and gasps for air, leaving white vapors behind in the cold, winter air. Running around the Capital in its most busy day was hard enough, even for a trained warrior such as Elsword. Avoiding running into people or smashing down objects in his path was hard enough to do, even without following the flying demon, which guided him to his beloved. Sunday was, indeed, one of the busiest days in Velder, since all the merchants gathered here to sell their products, to make deals and chat with other salesmen, exchanging tips and marketing techniques. Above all, the winter festival was rapidly approaching and preparations were in full swing.

Not bothering with anything around him, Elsword was completely focused on not losing sight of Anger, who did not seem to care about leaving the young knight behind. Upon leaving behind the noise of the city, they had reached a more secluded area of the Capital, calm and silence dominating above anything else. Slowing down, Anger scanned the area with his gaze, searching frantically for his owner. With no sign of her whatsoever, he proceeded further yet again.

"You still haven't answered: where is she?!" Elsword questioned, his voice becoming harsh. He was definitely becoming angry, along with the uprising frustration for not being able to find her and be with her. Instead, Anger threw him a quick look and sped up, his look hinting the fact that, this time, he knew where she was.

* * *

Holding the delicate flower bouquet in her hands, she proceeded on the small road and walked in silence until she had reached the small gate of a beautifully garnished fence. Upon entering, she took a deep breath, taking the cold air into her lungs to calm her wavering feelings and slowly started walking among the narrow alleyways, between stunningly adorned stones. They were breathtaking pieces of art, coming in countless shapes and sizes, each of them telling its own story and representing someone dear. At the sight in front of her, Aisha could only be astounded and feel sympathy towards all the individuals that came and left here, and even the ones who couldn't leave anymore. Engraved on each and every stone and statue were quotes and words coming from the heart, words that had deeper meaning than they appeared, words that someone wanted to last forever, or even unspoken feelings, too late to be said by voices anymore.

Focusing on her own mission, the young mage passed each stone determined, steadily pressing her small feet into the unstained layer of snow. Soon, she stopped in front of one particularly small stone, only reaching her hips, lightly decorated with adamant roses, encrusted with tiny El Stones in different colors and shapes. On one face, a small word was engraved, written delicately with a thin font, symbolizing a person's name: Sasha.

"It's been a while since I last came here. I'm sorry I made you wait for so long…mama." Aisha said, bowing on her knees and cleaning the area in front of the stone, revealing a marble paved area, with a hollow on one of the sides. The mage placed the flowers one by one in the bare cavity, then sat herself near and scanned the place thoroughly. "I should have come sooner, but I have been very busy lately. Anyways, Happy Birthday!" Aisha exclaimed, gently clapping her hands and smiling happily. "I've been feeling pretty down lately, for some reason, but now I feel better, so don't worry. My friends always take care of me, even if they annoy me sometimes or even upset me, but they know when they cross the line and they apologize." Aisha narrated. "But still, why am I feeling so alone sometimes? It is like having a void inside me that cannot be filled by anyone or anything. It has been like this ever since…you left me." the girl's face no longer showed joyfulness, her features replaced with sadness and sorrow instead. "Why did you have to leave me? Why did you leave me behind?" her eyes were leaking at the sides, her voice hoarse and her body trembling, both from sitting in the cold snow and from the tide of suffering of her feelings. "Why did you leave me here, all alone, with people who never loved me, with people who wanted me only for being your memento, they, who knew nothing about me and didn't accept me, whatever I did? The best you could do was spare me the agony of being alone and unwanted." somewhere along her desperate questions to her deceased mother, Aisha started crying hardly, sobs and hiccups drowning her words entirely. "How could you not care about me like this?" her yells ended up unheard, her voice fading through the wind, as silence fell yet again in the calm cemetery. "The least you could do, if you ever cared about me, was take me with you."

The last sentence came out more like a whisper and a desperate beg than a claim. Exhausted and cold, her vision fuzzy and blurry, Aisha slowly leaned forward, ready to meet with the cold floor as she felt her senses and her energy leave her body. If one would have ever told her that an individual could die from sadness, Aisha would have called them insane. But feeling this on herself, she could only curse at her own absurdity. Feeling alone and acknowledging the fact that she wanted her end to come here and now, she gave up all her resistance and slowly started falling towards the warm-colored tiles, faintly whispering "I'm sorry, everyone…I really loved you. Please don't hate me."

To her surprise, she was not greeted with cold, but with a pair of warm hands, pulling her closer and closer, embracing her desperately. Looking up, through half-lidded, tired eyes, she was met with a pair of flaming red eyes, staring at her with sadness and remorse.

"Idiot, we love you, too. So much, in fact." Elsword rested his forehead on hers, trying to send as much body heat as he could on her in order to warm her cold, frail body up. Kissing her forefront, he whispered calmly. "We couldn't possibly hate you. So don't do anything stupid like this ever again."

The young knight hid his face under his bangs, slowly letting his feelings get the best of him, as tears swelled down his cheeks and made their way until his chin, then falling on the cold ground. Wiping the water from Aisha's moist face, he stared at her, as she had her gaze fixed on the mortuary stone of her late mother, never averting her amethyst eyes.

"You're not alone." he finally said, after moments of silence, which felt like eternity, pulling her closer into the embrace and holding her tightly against his body. "If not anyone else, I will always be by your side, no matter what. I swear."

Throwing him a lost look, Aisha's eyes began to water immediately, as she also pulled him closer and held him in place, crying, yelling and sobbing into his chest. Elsword stood there, unmoved and silent, swallowing her sadness and her worries, just letting her discharge all her frustrations. Eventually, as cold got to him and Aisha fainted exhausted, he got up, holding her bridal style and looked at Sasha's stone once more before bowing slightly and mourning in silence, praying quietly. He then turned around, and with a straight and content face, he proceeded walking back home with his love in his arms. Behind him, Anger flapped his wings lightly, his face frowned, as he felt a peculiar presence around them. Still wary, he scanned the area around, searching for the source of his uneasiness. Somewhere in the back of his mind, the demon thought it was only the shock from the moment, the sudden loss of his master, which made his body act with precaution. Just as he was about to give up and catch up with the two, a barely audible giggle reached his sensitive ears. Upon turning around, he caught a glimpse of a light blue dress, swaying with the breeze and the portrait of a beautiful woman's face, turning around, fading with the sudden wind. With his eyes wide and terror filling his petit body, Anger was ready to yell from the top of his small lungs, but stopped himself from doing so. Somewhere inside his darkness filled heart, he knew what this meant and he did not intend on changing things as they were at the moment. Instead, he smiled and stared as the tiny El Fragments on the stone roses lit up slightly, gently beaconing for all the stone dwellers to feel its warmth and happy feelings symbolized by the relic, energy-filled stones.

* * *

Slowly regaining her senses, Aisha woke up to the familiar feeling of her bed and the smell of tea and bread drifting through the house. She was yet again in her bed, cuddled in countless blankets and pillows. Such clumsy arrangements amused her, but yet made the young mage wonder who did such things? 'Ah…' she remembered. 'It was him.' The woman concluded and fell back into the soft mattress, her mind lost in thought and gaze searching for an answer. Resting on one of the nightstands, there was a small cup of steaming tea and a plate with a few pastries thrown on it, still warm and ready to be dug in.

Reaching for them, she felt a familiar numbness, forcing her to fall back on the sheets, while grabbing her belly, which was screaming to be fed immediately. Ignoring her physical condition, she got up once again and took the two into her still weak hands and started munching the sweet applebread, while sipping from the cup, in order to swallow easier. Finally done with the snack and regaining some of her previous strength, Aisha got up and grabbed a robe from her drawer, throwing the fluffy piece of clothing on herself. She noticed she was wearing the outfit from back when Elsword first came to her place. With no reason to ponder why she was in that state, the confused mage walked out of her bedroom, searching the surroundings with her alert gaze.

From the couch, her petit demon squealed in delight upon seeing her and launched himself in her arms, forcing her off-balance for a moment. Anger rubbed his face on her, as if trying to caress her, only to be petted himself by his beautiful owner.

"Easy, there, little one." she giggled while comforting the demon with rubs, pets and scratches, making the purple bat purr.

"Heh, finally, you're awake." Aisha froze in place, listening to his voice fading into thin air. "I'm glad you're ok." he added.

Turning around, she saw the familiar figure of Elsword, coming from the kitchen with a mug in his hand. He must've used the facilities to make some tea, but seeing him baking cookies was out of her imagination possibilities.

"Els? What happened?" she questioned, almost barely audible, fear arising in her heart, as his face turned to look down, his eyes filled with sadness and remorse yet again. The feeling of deja-vu in her mind didn't intend to give her peace, as she felt she had seen this look on his face somewhere before, but shrugged it off, as Elsword made his way to the couch and sat, without saying a word. The silence was deafening, and his face did not give her any assuring feelings about what was going to happen in just a few moments from now.

"I hurt you again and you left. You went to your mother's grave. And you almost died in the sheer cold." at the last part, the young knight clenched his teeth and hardly kept himself under control from breaking a few pieces of furniture. "I know I don't deserve to even stay here anymore, but I'm sorry…I'm so sorry."

He couldn't control his emotions anymore, as tears started gathering in his eyes and he started crying slowly, stifled sobs released from time to time. Though he did not expect any kind of cheering up or anything of the sort, two small arms wrapped themselves around his neck and Aisha's body dragged itself close to him, making the knight snap his eyes open in disbelief.

"I remember now." her shivering voice whispered in his ear. "I was sad, I couldn't take it anymore, I was alone and felt unwanted, I wished to die, I honestly did." at her words, Elsword closed his powerful arms around her, holding her desperately, as the fear for losing her came crashing into his senses again. "But you proved me wrong. You came after me. You showed me the thing I had come to accept I would never feel again. From the moment my mother had died, from the moment I had accepted darkness, I had forsaken my personal feelings. I knew it wouldn't happen to me. But I was so wrong." she calmed herself and started caressing the back of his neck, also soothing him. "For the first time in your life, you proved me wrong." Aisha distanced herself and looked him in the eye, barely holding back a laugh at her last statement.

Expecting no response, she closed his lips with hers, while he dragged her closer and closer, finally making her sit on his lap. Smiling weakly, he broke the kiss and gazed upon her flushed cheeks and honest face, taking in everything she offered him just now: her feelings, her body, her life all in all.

"I love you." was all his mind could manage to put into words, while she smiled gently in response, nodding slightly.

Elsword grabbed her from around her waist and circled her legs around his hips, making his manhood rub against her core powerfully, forcing the surprised mage moan. On their way to her bedroom, the knight swallowed all her squeals of pleasure with his own mouth, slowly caressing her lower back and inner thighs. In exchange, she clenched her fists into his crimson hair, earning groans of approval from Elsword himself.

Finally into her room, the red knight didn't even bother to let go of her and threw themselves on the bed, never breaking the kiss, or letting her a moment's break. He turned, placing her underneath him and pinning her to the sheets, hovering just inches above her entire existence. Swiftly removing her top, he realized that somewhere along the road, Aisha had lost her robe. 'Hmm, we'll find it later.' he concluded. His very skilled mouth found its way down her neck, where he made sure he did not leave any place unattended, and until her newly exposed breasts, suckling and biting her sensitive buds. Aisha couldn't help but moan and scream his name, her body unable to move properly from her lover's sweet treatments. Feeling her uncontrolled movements, Elsword pinned her legs with his own, as his hands still held hers tightly above her head. She desperately wanted to touch him, to feel his body skin against her fingers, but he did not intend on letting her go anytime soon. Instead, after giving the same treatment to the other breast, he placed kisses on her belly and lower areas, but not going as far as she had wanted. He simply enjoyed punishing her for scaring him like that.

"E-elsword!" she barely managed to form a coherent word.

"Hmm?" he answered, while greedily holding one of her pink buds into his mouth.

"I-i want you…please, no more-ah! No more teasing."

Ah, so she was finally starting to tear apart. Elsword felt proud of his results, as a sly look made its way into his eyes and a smirk formed onto his lips. No wonder she did so, no one would still keep hold of their sanity after being so close to release so many times, and never getting to let go.

"Hasty, aren't we?" he chuckled, as her cheeks dyed a deeper shade of red. He managed to remove her bottom as quickly as his excitement trembling hands could manage, while she took off his shirt and removed his pants half-way, Elsword doing the rest of the job. Now, left in nothing to cover themselves, they stared into each other's eyes lovingly, only to take in the moment completely. Aisha's hands were freed in the process and were now caressing his shoulders, then his strong arms, then proceeding to feel his heartbeat through his toned muscles. He closed his lustful eyes and let his lover explore his body, sending jolts of pleasure and electricity through him, yet not moving an inch, allowing her to do whatever she felt like.

She let her hands wander on his body, until they had reached his hips, where she stopped. Spreading her legs apart, wrapping them yet again around his waist, she surpised him the most when she pulled his exposed member towards her wet core, sign that she wanted him now. His hands, holding him above her, now gave in, making him land on his elbows, placed on every side of her head, his face close to hers. With a heated kiss, he finally thrust into her, Aisha yelling his name against his lips, coming out more as a moan, an incomprehensible sound than a word.

From slowly at the beginning, the knight finally picked up the pace to his liking, occasionally looking at her to see if he was hurting her in any way. Elsword administered constantly kissed and suckles to her neck, lips and breasts, occasionally, rubbing her butt cheeks, or even her belly or face. He couldn't help but want to touch her everywhere and she returned his favors gladly, making up from the time she had been pinned to the bed and unable to feel him with her own hands.

His excitement coming to a climax, he grabbed her with both his hands and spoke her name a few times, letting her know he was close. Getting the same reaction from her, he quickly changed positions, making her sit on her arms and legs, while he thrusted from behind with enough force to bruise.

The moon dyed the room into silver, as the two lovers released their final screams and their bodies' strength faded away, forcing Aisha to fall and Elsword to land on top of her, leaning on his arms in order not to hit her with his body's weight. Panting loudly and with their energy wasted, Aisha was succumbing to sleep, her eyes barely open and her vigor draining fast. Noticing her features, Elsword got off her and wrapped the cover over them, pulling her into an embrace, the young mage cuddling his bare chest, while he buried his face into her hair, whispering a barely audible 'Good night.'

Still awake, Elsword stared out the window, the world painted in silver and he silently swore to her, the moon being his witness, that he would be there for her every moment of her life from now on. Her face, now sound asleep, her hair, her bare body against his seemed like that of an angel, painted in white and silver, the only divine being in a world of darkness. Smiling to himself, and with the image of her as an angel, he drifted off to sleep, holding her dearly, kissing her forehead, one thought still lingering in the back of his mind: 'Wait till Rena finds this out.'


End file.
